That Girl
by eyes-open
Summary: Ellie has it all: a fun summer at the Burrow, a promising first year at Hogwarts, a rock band with Ginny and the twins, and even Oliver Wood’s attention. But all she really wants is someone she’ll never have. And who, exactly, is her father? OC please R
1. Summer at the Burrow

* * *

Hi everyone, this is my first fic under this account but I've written here before. If I get good responses for this story, I'll probably write corresponding stories for each HP book. So review please! I know not everyone likes OC's but hopefully if it's well-written you will anyway (:

**Chapter 1: Summer at the Burrow**

Ellie was supposed to spend the summer with a family called the Weasleys. She had never met them, and knew nothing about them except that they were a wizarding family. Her choice was simple: stay home for the summer and go to public school the next year, or leave home and go to wizarding school. She wanted to go to wizarding school, but she wanted to stay home this summer.

She wanted Hogwarts more.

"I'm sorry," her mother said distractedly when Ellie confronted her. "You know I can't take care of you this summer. If I get promoted, I'll be working in offices with the Prime Minister… this summer opportunity could be great for me. Anyway, the Weasleys are great people."

Ellie wasn't sure if they were. Her mother had decent taste in friends, though a little dull, but these were friends from before that. They were old friends of her father's, and her father wasn't around anymore.

He was in prison.

"So, if I did to the wizarding world," Ellie said carefully, "and spend my summer with magic, d'you reckon it would be near—"

"_Don't_," her mother interrupted, "talk about that place."

Ellie crossed her arms. She had been planning to say 'Azkaban,' but her mother treated the name as badly as saying 'Voldemort.' All Ellie knew about her father was that he was imprisoned to the worst prison in the world when she was about two years old, and that he was the namesake of her awful name, Bretherworth; his first name was Andrew. She remembered living with him and not her mother, but that was it. Nothing more.

"It's not like they have visiting hours at Azkaban, anyway," her mother told her with a yawn. "But don't worry—the Weasleys will be a lot of fun."

"Why can't I just stay with you?" Ellie demanded. "I'll stay at a friend's house, even. Why do I have to go?"

Her mother faced her tiredly. "If you want to give up Hogwarts, you can stay as long as you want."

It was hopeless. Ellie had no plans to give up Hogwarts. The two years she lived with her father, she'd had magic, and she remembered it. Serena, her mother, who was once a powerful witch, became a Muggle, grew to work in regular politics, and shielded her daughter from magic. But Ellie still heard things sometimes, letters fluttering in from owls or newspapers dropping by anonymously. Ellie always kept an eye out for information about Azkaban, and especially about Hogwarts.

And then the letter came, and more than anything Ellie wanted to go. And even though her mother hated magic for what it did to her father, she agreed. Reluctantly.

And this summer was Ellie's punishment.

* * *

She arrived in a Muggle car after a long car drive in which she strummed tirelessly on her guitar. It was an electric, but without an amp it sounded pathetic. Her mother's reactions weren't very comforting, but Ellie didn't care; she loved playing the guitar and jamming more than almost anything else.

They pulled up to the house and stayed in the car for a minute, staring wordlessly at it.

"They call it the Burrow," her mother offered. "Very interesting, isn't it? So tall, much taller than it is wide… quite an architectural work…"

Ellie could tell her mother was searching for good points. She sighed and locked her guitar back into its case, pulled out her trunk, and closed the door behind her. As soon as they made the sound, a pretty, plump red-haired woman ran outside.

She didn't look anything like Ellie's mother, or her type. Ellie's parents were both good-looking (or had been; her mother had gradually become lank and tired-looking): dark, nearly black hair, pale skin, and striking eyes. Her father's had been brown; her mother's were gray. She'd gotten her mother's. But nothing about their appearances matched this woman, who looked much nicer than Ellie's mother did, in all honesty.

"Serena, so good to see you again," the woman gushed. "It's been far too long."

Ellie's mother nodded a little uncomfortably. Clearly they weren't the best of friends. "Thanks for doing this, Molly," Serena said politely. "Really. Ellie needs to get to know magic again, and I'll just be so busy at work…"

"That reminds me," Molly said, "Arthur was wondering if you could do him a huge favor. He's been having raids at the Ministry all week, and—"

"I really can't," Serena interrupted. "I am sorry, but I covered for you in the old days, and it never worked."

Molly bit her lip and glanced at the ground for a second. Ellie knew what this was about: Molly's husband probably worked for the Ministry of Magic, and the best way to cover up a problem was to have inside help from Muggle government.

Clearly the guilt trip worked; Serena sighed and let out a small smile. "All right, I'll talk to them and see what I can do, okay?"

Molly beamed. "Thank you, thank you," she said graciously. "Arthur's just inside, I'll just help Ellie bring in her things." She smiled for the first time at Ellie, who managed a small smile back.

"Uh, I prefer Ellie," Ellie said meekly.

"Of course, of course," Molly said, nodding and taking her trunk from her, wincing momentarily at the weight. "Now, you'll be sharing a room with Ginny, if that's all right. Sorry, no spare rooms, and all the others are boys, so…"

"That's fine," Ellie assured her, and followed her inside.

It was nothing like what she'd expected. It was cluttered, of course, but not of trash. Everywhere she looked, she saw something she couldn't possibly have expected; it was like she'd gone from a black-and-white thirties flick to a futuristic, technicolor movie. It was incredible.

"It's not much," Molly admitted when she saw Ellie's expression. "Probably not as nice as your home, but we get by."

Ellie had been planning on being cold her first few days, but those thoughts left her. "It's amazing."

Molly flushed. "Oh, such a sweet girl, I knew you'd be… All right, over here, I think Ginny'll be with the twins…" She stopped at the end of the hall and opened a door to a cluttered, cozy room with a great window view, posters littering the walls, and a comfortable-looking bed with a cot next to it.

Inside it were three people. One was a girl, just a bit younger than Ellie, with short, cute red hair and freckles. With her were two twins, both with long red hair and goofy expressions, much taller than either of the girls.

"Ellie, this is Ginny, Fred, and George," Molly introduced.

"Hi," Ginny said sweetly.

"Hey," George greeted, nodding at her.

"Oi," Fred said, and randomly offered her a high-five. It was so lame that it was cute, so she slapped it less hard than she usually did but hard enough to count.

"Ron's upstairs, and Percy will be studying," Molly explained. "You'll be spending your summer with us."

* * *

Life at the Weasleys got into a nice routine very quickly. Ginny was one of the most nice and courteous girls Ellie had ever met, and Fred and George the funniest guys. She didn't like Percy much, but she wasn't alone there, and Ron seemed like a great friend. Molly and Arthur treated her like a daughter.

Tonight, her fourth night at the Weasleys, was probably the first night Ellie really felt comfortable on her cot; comfortable enough, at least, to talk to Ginny about more than clothes and wands.

"Ginny?" she asked quietly. It was already dark, but she doubted she was asleep.

"Hm?" Ginny asked, rolling over and facing her.

Ellie ran a hand through her thin, dark hair before she spoke. "I get it if you don't know anything. But did your parents ever tell you anything about my dad?"

Ginny was silent for several moments before she spoke. "No," she said, and Ellie's face fell in the darkness. But then Ginny added, "But Fred and George did."

Ellie coughed out loud. "_What_?"

"It's not like they knew anything," Ginny said quickly, "but they have a knack for listening in on Mum and Dad, if you know what I mean. Anyway, they overheard them talking about your dad a few nights before you got here, and they told me. Why?"

"I don't really know anything about him," Ellie said quietly. "I was hoping you might. I get the impression your parents were friends with him, not my mum."

"_Were_," Ginny agreed. "I guess not anymore. They—er—were saying he did some pretty bad stuff." Her face was turning red; this was clearly not her comfort subject.

"Like what?" Ellie demanded. She could take it if he did bad things; she just wanted to know _what._

"Like… what anybody did at that time." Ginny shrugged. "You know, worked for V… well, You-Know-Who." Her voice was getting soft and low, like she was breaking laws by talking about this. She seemed rather excited. Ellie couldn't help but notice the year between them felt a lot bigger.

"He did?" Ellie breathed. She'd always feared it.

"I think so. You know, killed people, what they call a Death Eater, I think. Fred tried to figure out who he could be, but there were so many Death Eaters locked up around then, he couldn't tell."

Ellie sighed. She was glad to know a little more, but it wasn't helping much; all she'd really heard was that her father had worked for Voldemort. She'd assumed that, even if she hadn't been told it directly.

"I'm really sorry," Ginny said again. "Just so you know, our parents don't mistrust you, or anything. They think your mum did a good job with you. Though they are a little worried you're too sad."

Ellie shrugged. "I'm not that sad. I was a quiet kid, and it's awkward going from that to a preteen." She grinned and held up a string of her hair that she'd streaked silver. "Clearly I'm not too sad."

Ginny giggled. "I noticed that the other day. Why'd you do it?"

Ellie shrugged, rolling over again. "Dunno, really. Just hated blending in, I guess."

The problem was, she hated standing out, too.

* * *

She didn't really get to know the boys until about three weeks in. She and Ginny were close, but she kept her distance from the other boys. She was too young to flirt with them but too old to not feel a little out of ease around them; for her own comfort, she stayed away. She was prettier than she felt comfortable with, but she'd never done anything about it. Her looks just were, just existed on the exterior of a soul that didn't suit them.

It was the third week when they'd suggested Quidditch. She'd seen the twins and Ron through Ginny's window a few times, but she hadn't really noticed much except that they were on broomsticks… which, really, was plenty as it was.

"Ellie, you, too," Fred said when he saw her in the hallway. "Don't worry, we can teach you."

She didn't know what to say, so she followed them outside into the shed, where Fred handed her a beat-up but still surprisingly magic-looking broomstick.

"It's Percy's," he explained. "The wanker thinks he's too good for brooms now."

She laughed a little and accepted it, following him aside. She glanced behind, but Ginny, Ron, and George were already mounting their brooms. Apparently Fred was her decided teacher.

"Flying's the most amazing thing ever," he explained when she caught up to him. "Nothing like it. You'll thank me for teaching you."

She stayed quiet; she didn't really know what to say.

"So, put your broom on the ground first, just in front of you." He demonstrated.

She grinned and did the same. "Am I going to have to squat, or something? Because I thought the idea was to _fly_ the broom…"

He grinned, too, and shook his head. "Cool Quidditch strategy," he explained, and stuck out a hand. "What you are about to see may shock you," he warned, and turned to the broom. "Up!"

The broom flew up, and he caught it with one hand. "Eh?"

She knew her eyes had widened substantially. She just hadn't been expecting it. "Whoa," she managed. "That was… weird."

He laughed. "Not really. You're not a Muggle, right?"

She shook her head. "No, but I didn't grow up with magic." He knew that, didn't he?

"Right." She could tell the realization was coming back to him, but he didn't say anything about it. "Well, you'll get used to it, especially when you get to jinx the Slytherins."

"Slytherins?" she asked.

"One of the houses. The worst. C'mon, don't stall, I'll explain later. Up it already."

She smiled and stuck a hand out. "Up," she said. The broom didn't move. She hung her head in shame for a second before glancing at him.

"'S no big deal," he assured her. "You haven't even learned magic yet, I doubted you'd get it on your first try. Just say it with more emotion, like it's a pet dog you can't stand, or something."

She grinned again and stuck out her hand. "_Up_," she said more forcefully. It hovered in the air for a second and dropped. She rolled her eyes, annoyed, and shouted, "UP!"

It zoomed up so fast that it stung when she caught it. She dropped it in pain.

"Ow!" she shrieked. "Bloody hell, can I just pick it up?"

Fred was cracking up at this point. He nodded and waited for her to do so before mounting his own. "Okay, straddle it and keep your feet on the ground. When I say go, kick off with your feet. Steer like a Segway—Dad told me abut those—with your body. Pull back to go up, push down to go down. Lean forward going up, lean back going down. And if—"

"You teach slow," she announced, and kicked off.

He chuckled and did the same. In seconds she was accelerating, blowing into the wind and across their small field, Fred trailing just behind her. And he was right: there was nothing like it.

* * *

They played Quidditch every day for the next week, and before she knew it, half of Ellie's summer had passed. It was definitely not what she had expected: even if Molly had her washing dishes and dusting, it was more exciting than any of her days back home. Magic wasn't something she got used to; it was something she was shocked by over and over again, and Quidditch was the best part—especially with Fred.

Ginny was still close with her, and they'd gotten past small talk completely. They couldn't always talk about Ellie's dad, because there wasn't always much to say. But Ginny was always ready to complain about Ron or ask about normal government, and Ellie had a million and one questions about magic.

Ellie was getting over her boy discomfort easily, at least with the twins. She and Fred had already passed it, and when you befriend one twin, you befriend the other. Fred had a distinctive freckle on his nose that made it easy to tell them apart, though it was a bit awkward for the first minute or two she scanned his nose.

Percy was still Percy, which left Ron as the only of the four she hadn't really talked to. The Wednesday that signified her break was halfway up, Molly had them both prepare lunch for the family, which gave them time to talk. As with his brothers, it began uncomfortably and then rolled smoothly.

"So," Ellie said as they pulled out the bread for sandwiches, "er, sorry if it seems like I'm avoiding you. I've actually been meaning to spend some time with you"—this had sounded better in her head—"but, you know, Fred and George are always around."

He laughed. "No, it's cool," he assured her. "Meals and Quidditch are plenty. You make a wicked Chaser, by the way. Maybe you should try for the team."

Quite honestly, she had considered it. "I think I'll wait and see when I get to Hogwarts," she decided. "Are you going to?"

"Nah. I'm not much of a Keeper, and that's all I'm interested in, anyway. I'm really excited about Hogwarts in general, though. And we'll be in the same year."

She smiled and nodded, not really wanting to think about it. Ginny wasn't even going with her to Hogwarts, and Fred and George, who she really liked, were two years ahead of her. All the more reason to talk to Ron. "It'll be great, I'm sure," she agreed. "Mum didn't really want me to go, but I say it'll be worth it."

"Definitely. Have you heard of the headmaster?"

She spread peanut butter and some strange kind of jam onto one of the sandwiches. "I think so. Isn't his name Albus something?"

"Dumbledore," Ron said, and nodded. "Fred and George break his rules a lot, so I don't imagine he likes them all that much. But Bill and Charlie always said great things about him."

"He's old, then?" she assumed. She knew Bill and Charlie were much older than Ron.

He grinned. "Yeah. You've been paying attention to the Weasley tree, have you?"

She laughed. "Sometimes. Too big for me to memorize, though."

He was silent for a second, which she'd noticed in this house indicated either a change of topic or a need to bring up something important. His was the former. "So you brought a guitar, right?" he asked as he screwed the jam cap back on and sliced the seven sandwiches.

She reached for the crisps and nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, Ginny's quite obsessed with wizarding bands, like the Weird Sisters and such. I think they use guitars. She'd love it if you showed it to her. You know, helped her use it a bit?"

Ellie smiled. "Sure. That's sweet—you're looking out for her?"

"Actually, one time I promised I'd be famous and introduce her to their lead singer, but since that'll never happen, I figured this would be a nice backup."

Ellie laughed. "Nice."

He nodded in agreement and took a handful of crisps to spill onto his plate. She did the same for the others.

"If you're not practicing because of us, you should reconsider," he said. "Ginny'd love to hear you play. Mum and Dad wouldn't mind the noise, and I bet Fred and George would even be quiet for more than five minutes."

She laughed and took two plates over to the table. He did the same, and they repeated the process for the other three. "Maybe I will. It's a bit awkward, you know? But nothing seems out of the question in this family."

* * *

She ended up getting it out a few nights later with Ginny, who looked thrilled. "I've never seen a real one before!" Ginny squealed. "The Weird Sisters use spells to hover the guitar and change the sound vibes and stuff—I reckon a lot of their sound's conjured and not played, but it's still great to listen to."

"I don't have the luxury of magic when I play," Ellie admitted, "but it's still nice. Would you mind if I plugged in my amp, you know, softly?"

"Plugged in?" Ginny repeated. "Like an outlet?"

Ellie nodded.

"That's a Muggle thing," Ginny explained. "Dad told me about it. We don't have that here… I'm sure I can get him to conjure something, though. I'll be right back."

When she came back, it was not only with a strange-looking outlet but also with her mum, dad, twin brothers, and Ron. Ellie sat rigid the second they walked into the small room.

"I didn't know you could play," Molly said excitedly. "I'd just love to hear something."

Ellie rubbed an eye, glad she didn't have to worry about eyeliner; her silver eyes stood out enough on their own. "Um," she said, "I don't really play for audiences, it's more just for fun…"

"Well, I'm staying," Fred said, kicking off his shoes and plopping down a little unnervingly close to her.

"Me too," George agreed, and sat in Ginny's desk chair. Everyone else stayed leaning against the walls. Ron gave Ellie an encouraging smile, and Ellie reminded herself to help Ginny with it later.

"Okay," Ellie said, "um, I guess I'll play _Wonderwall, _it's one of my favourites."

No one recognized the name—she hadn't expected them to—so she went ahead and strummed. She sang the words in her shower, but she wasn't about to sing them here; the guitar tune was catchy enough. She added a few slurs and accents to make it edgy, and halfway through the song, she had already gone from rigid to rocking.

Music wasn't just notes to her, as cliché as it sounded. It was a whole other world, where she could warp away from everything and everyone else and be safe, secure, and free. Even when she was a kid, she remembered singing show tunes with her father; as she grew older, she spent all her money emptying record stores of all classics anyone had ever suggested, from Pink Floyd to Barry Manilow. Music had become her passion.

She finished the song with some extra strumming, and didn't look up for several seconds. When she did, it was to pleasantly surprised faces.

"I didn't know that was doable without magic," Molly said interestedly. "That was a very nice song. What did you say it was called?"

"_Wonderwall,_" Ellie replied. "The lyrics are really nice, but I don't really sing…"

"We need to start a band," Fred announced. Everyone's heads whipped around to look at him, and he said with a shrug, "I dunno, I think it'd be cool."

"I'm in it," Ginny and George said at the same time. Ron shrugged and shook his head.

Arthur chuckled and took his wife by the arm. "We'll see you kids in the morning," he said, and they left. Ron raised his eyebrows and followed.

"What's our name?" Ginny asked enthusiastically once George shut the door.

"What're our _instruments_?" George asked, laughing. "Besides Ellie on guitar, none of us really know anything. Drums look easy. I think."

Ellie shook her head. "Nah, my friend played them, they're actually pretty hard."

"Okay, well, I'll work at it," George said cheerfully.

"I'll do bass," Ginny offered hopefully. "I hear it's not too hard."

"Okay." Ellie still wasn't sure what she thought about being in a wizarding band, especially with a girl she wouldn't see for a year, but she was glad for the idea. "Fred?"

He shrugged. "Singer?"

She laughed. "Okay, let's hope you don't suck."

He faked upset as they gathered their things to get ready for bed.

* * *

Ellie couldn't sleep that night—she wasn't sure why. It might have been because of good things, or maybe because her mother hadn't written to her all summer. Or maybe it was just tension. But for whatever reason, at about two in the morning, she crept out of her room and outside.

She found a bench that she recognized as Mrs. Weasley's garden seat and sat down. She hugged her legs to her chest and stared up at the sky. It was beautiful—something about the air out here was nothing like her home back in Manchester.

She didn't know how long she'd sat there before she realized how cold it was. It was a hot summer day, but apparently that didn't apply in the dead of night. She sighed and got back up, making her way only half-awake back into the building and planning on retrieving a sweatshirt from her trunk. She stopped short when she reached the kitchen and found herself facing Fred.

He was munching on a cold sub sandwich and looked up at her in surprise, a bit of lettuce hanging out of the side of his mouth.

"Hi," she managed.

He munched up the rest and smiled back at her. "Hi," he replied. "What were you doing outside?"

"The bench," she replied uncertainly, cocking her head back outside. "It's nice. Sorry, I couldn't sleep… didn't wake you up, did I?"

He shook his head. "Nah, I come down for subs a lot in the dead of night. Love George to death, but sometimes I gotta have _something _of my own."

She'd always wondered when that would pop up. She hadn't believed he was perfectly okay with being George's identical twin in heart, mind, and soul—not to mention speech and acts.

"You going back to bed?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I was gonna get a jacket and go back out. It's a nice night, just a bit cold."

"Cool, I'll join you," he offered easily, then added quickly, "That is, if you want me to… I can make you a sub," he added, holding up his.

She smiled; she couldn't help it. He was so cute and dorky. "I'm a vegetarian," she reminded him: she'd been a problem for the Weasleys all summer. "But sure, you can join me."

"Cool," he said again, and grinned cutely at her as she headed upstairs for her bag. She laughed and made her way silently to Ginny's room, where she grabbed an old sweatshirt and pulled it on. When she came back downstairs, he had a sub in his hand.

"Veggie patty," he explained. "Ginny asks for them sometimes."

She smiled, honestly touched, and accepted it. She was a kid with no experience with guys, and she knew Fred was too old for her—thirteen to her eleven, which didn't sound like much but was something. She followed him out to the bench, where she sat next to him, noticing how it wasn't as big as she thought.

She was worried it would be awkward, but he smoothed it out for her.

"Mum's taking us shopping in Diagon Alley in a few weeks," he said. "You could get an owl—"

"Really?" she interrupted excitedly, with a grin.

He laughed. "Yeah, your mum probably left you with money for one. And you have to get a wand. Excited?"

"And freaked out. Seriously, I don't know anything about spells or magic. At least you and Ron grew up with it. What am I supposed to expect?"

He shrugged. "To be taught. You don't have to learn anything before you meet the professors—that's what they're there for."

She sighed. "You're probably right."

"Always am," he reminded her with a smirk.

"Oh, lay off, you can't be as funny without George. Admit it."

He pouted, clearly not in the mood to be proven not funny. "I can be funny," he said in his defense, "whenever I want. So what if I try to be serious?"

"Okay, fine, let's be serious." She took a deep breath—she was ready to be _really _serious. "Have you ever eavesdropped on your parents talking about mine?"

He looked down at her uncertainly. She looked right back.

He sighed. "Yeah. How'd you know?"

"Ginny."

He muttered something about teaching her something, and then said, "Yeah, before you came, they talked about your mum and dad a lot. I don't think they like your mum much, honestly."

"Yeah." She didn't really care. "But what about him?"

"Look, I get that you want to know about your dad…" He looked pained. "But it's not going to be good. Some people are bad people, and it doesn't make you a bad person, but you can't hope he's good. You've just got to let go of that."

"I'll think what I want," she said stiffly.

He could tell he'd hit a nerve, and she was glad. "Okay," he said. "Okay, I know. Sorry."

"So? Did they say anything useful or not?"

"Not really. Just that they were friends with him, you know, before. Really good friends. And not just with them. Look, are you sure you want to hear this? Because it's not—"

"I do," she said quickly.

"Okay… well, apparently he was part of this group of people who worked with Dumbledore, Hogwarts's headmaster. I'm not sure what they were, but they… fought You-Know-Who. And he double-crossed them."

She frowned. Honestly, she had been hoping for some good news. But he was right: there was no point in hoping, because what good could come of learning more and more about her father, who was clearly evil?

"We should play Quidditch tomorrow," Fred announced.

She let herself smile. "Let's play right now." And they mounted their brooms and played a one-on-one game, the best she'd played yet.

* * *

They spent the rest of the summer playing Quidditch and playing in their band. George managed to convince his dad to charm a lot of pots and pans to convert to a drum set, and Mr. Weasley also changed a weird stick-like object into a bass for Ginny. They worked well, and with Ellie's real guitar, they sounded good.

On about their fourth practice ('practice' being a loose word for 'learning'), Ginny brought up the fact that they didn't have a band name.

Fred glanced at Ellie for a response. He'd spent several more dark nights with her outside on the bench since the last, and each time they spoke less of her father and more of things that mattered in the present. Ellie didn't have a crush on him, really—she considered him one of her best friends. George, too, had been great.

"What about the Weasleys?" she asked hopefully.

"But that doesn't make sense," George replied. "We _are _the Weasleys, except you."

"Right, but you said some people think down on you because you're Weasleys, right?" Ellie asked. "Well, why not become a legend and prove them wrong? Let people be respectful when they mention the Weasleys."

"But what about you?" Ginny asked. "You're not a Weasley."

Ellie grinned. "Might as well be."


	2. Diagon Alley and Hogwarts Express

Hi again and thanks for my 1 review, haha… well, here's the next chapter, please enjoy!

**Chapter 2: Diagon Alley & Hogwarts Express**

"Floo powder," Molly announced, gesturing to the pile of dust in a goblet in her hands. "Ron, you want to show Ellie how it's done? Quite simple, really, though a little odd to get used to…"

Ron nodded and accepted a handful of the strange powder from his mother. "You just have to step into the fire, say where you're going, and drop it," he explained to Ellie. "It's not as bad as it sounds."

Ellie blinked at him and shrugged, waiting for him to continue. She'd believe it when she saw it.

And she did, only minutes later: Ron stepped into the fireplace, said loudly, 'Diagon Alley!,' and green flames burst around him, enveloping him before he disappeared.

Ellie shrieked and grabbed the arms of the two people next to her, Ginny and George, who both laughed.

"That's what was supposed to happen," Ginny assured her. "It's fine. We'll meet Ron in a few minutes. It doesn't hurt, just looks like it."

Ellie glanced at George for more assurance. He grinned. "Pretty cool actually."

She sighed and took a handful from Mrs. Weasley before starting over to the fire.

"Fred," Molly said quickly, "go with her. George, you can go with Ginny, she said she wanted to come this year just to see."

George nodded, looking a little miffed, as Fred stepped up next to Ellie. Clearly he didn't like being separated from his twin. Ellie gave him a hopeless shrug and followed Fred into the fireplace, feeling claustrophobic right away. "Diagon Alley," they both said at the same time. Fred gently took her arm as the flames enveloped them.

Ginny was right: it didn't hurt. It didn't even feel hot, just a bit prickly, and there was a sensation of being lifted that wasn't entirely pleasant but wasn't awful, either. She landed only seconds later, still next to Fred, coughing up the dust she'd been smothered in.

"Nice," said Ron appreciatively. "I ended up in the wrong place when I tried that. Horizon Alley, for the incredibly rich. You can imagine I didn't quite fit in there."

"Come on, George and Ginny'll be along soon," said Fred. She noticed that his hand was still around her arm, and he quickly released it before stepping out.

They waited easily until, only a minute or so later, George and Ginny appeared. Ginny darted past them to get a water from a waiter at the restaurant they were in; George followed Fred and Ellie to a table.

"So, do we get to come when you get your first wand?" George asked Ellie.

She rolled her eyes. "Sure, if you want. What're you getting? Just schoolbooks?"

"Maybe some new robes." Fred wrinkled his nose. "Secondhand, o'course, but I think if we can sell a few gadgets this year…"

She grinned, glad he wasn't the bad sport about his money issues that Ron was. She felt guilty enough knowing the great amount of money her mother must have paid Molly to house her for the summer. It was generous, of course, but also had to wound Molly's pride. "Gadgets?"

"We like making joke items," George explained. "Never really takes off, though. It will eventually."

"We're going to Gringotts first," Fred said, turning his attention back to Ellie's question. "Do you know if you have a vault there?"

"Of course she does," Molly said from behind him, having just arrived with her husband and Percy. "Ellie, your mother left me the key… now, I want you to spend as much as you like today. You have plenty."

She raised her eyebrows. "But my mum's a Muggle."

"It's—er—your dad's," Molly said awkwardly, shuffling over to her and handing her a key. "He was—is—quite wealthy. Inherited, you know, and he's—you're—the end of the line…" She cleared her throat.

"Man, who knew?" Ellie asked with a forced grin. "A name like Bretherworth, and we were actually well off." Everyone laughed nervously, but her thoughts were still on this bit of new information. If she was the end of the line, who were her ancestors? Why were they rich?

"Anyway, we should be going," Molly said, extending a hand. Ginny eagerly ran over to them, having finished splashing the water over her soot-covered face.

"Mum, can I get a pet?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Maybe when you go to Hogwarts, dear," Molly replied, and pulled her daughter along as they headed off for Gringotts Bank.

* * *

It was huge, and though it looked a little disconcerting on the outside, it looked quite nice from the inside. Not only was it full of chandeliers and hard-wood floors, it was full of strange creatures.

"Goblins," Fred whispered to her. "They hate us, too, any families that don't look rich."

"I suppose I stand out, though," she said, lifting a strand of her dark hair. "Not a redhead like the rest of you. So what d'you reckon, do I look poor?"

"Nah, poor people aren't good-looking," Fred replied, catching her off guard. It was actually a very false statement as it was, but it wasn't the words that surprised her as much as the effect.

She cleared her throat and turned her face the other way—she wasn't used to compliments like that, and she felt much jumpier than she should've. But wanting to save both of them the awkward trouble, she turned back and said, "Well, I'd rather live like your family than mine, and we have more money."

"Touching," he said, "but you'd probably change your mind if you actually lived with us for thirteen years. By the way, how can you tell us apart? You know who I am, right?"

"Fred," she replied. When he looked surprised, she explained, "Freckle. On your nose."

He sighed. "That's just too weird."

She laughed, then realized they were lagging. They both caught up to the others at the back of the huge room; Molly was already talking to what looked like the head goblin.

"So we'll be stopping by our vault, of course," Molly was saying, "and also Miss Bretherworth's."

Ellie took a step closer in case there was any trouble.

"Bretherworth," the goblin repeated in a strange voice, and glanced at her key. "Yes, I recognize the key, but not the name… isn't your name—"

"Yes, that's her," Molly interrupted. Ellie raised her eyebrows.

"I'm sorry, you just introduced her as—" the goblin started.

Molly interrupted him again, this time by leaning over the table and whispering something in his pale, pointed ear. The goblin's expression changed, and he nodded.

"I see," he said in his nasal voice. "Very well, then, follow him to your train." He pointed to a goblin trotting over to them, holding a lamp.

"Mrs. Weasley," Ellie said once they were all safely inside the large canoe-like cart. "What was that about? The confusion about my name?"

Molly frowned for a second. "Your father's ancestry is a bit confusing," she said carefully. "He actually changed his own last name, in a matter of speaking… of course, you are still a Bretherworth… it doesn't really matter, doesn't really mean anything." She immediately turned and talked to Arthur so Ellie couldn't pursue it.

"I'm sure it's no big deal," George said when he saw Ellie's expression.

"It's probably best if you let things with your father rest," Fred said quietly.

She sighed. "Maybe I would if it didn't keep popping up. And it doesn't make sense—what kind of person would willingly _choose _to change their last name to Bretherworth?"

"Maybe he had a good sense of humor," George suggested mildly.

Ellie rolled her eyes, but she had to admit it was a bit of a hope. The thought that he had a good sense of humor wouldn't hurt—until she remembered that he'd landed himself in Azkaban for a reason.

They stopped at the Weasleys' vault first. George leaned back as his parents got out, and Ellie could see from the expression on his face that he was disappointed. She didn't want to go and look; she knew they'd be happier if she didn't. A second later, she felt Fred's hands covering her eyes.

"You're not allowed," he explained cheerfully.

She admired his and George's abilities to stay happy despite their problems. She wished she could help them, but her mother was already paying for her stay, and she knew Molly wouldn't accept a penny of donation.

They went to Ellie's vault next. Ginny was the only one to bluntly step out of the car with the goblin, but Ellie caught Fred and George peering around the end, too. Ron was poking them sharply with his pen, and Molly and Arthur got out to help. Percy was the only one uninterested.

Ellie wasn't sure what to expect, except that she noticed this was more highly guarded than the others. The key wasn't the only part, but it also required the goblin to scrape his long fingernail down it, and there was a lock with symbols she couldn't read. It took almost five minutes just to open it.

Ellie was almost blinded by the amount of copper, gold, and silver waiting for her. It was a huge room, and money wasn't the only thing in it—there were also a number of odd-looking treasures, books, and items.

If she wasn't surrounded by people who were staring in jealous amazement at it, she had a feeling she'd jump in the gold and swim around in it; the humongous piles were tempting. She could tell whoever the Bretherworths were, they weren't just well off, they were _rich. _

"Should I take any of the… objects?" she asked Molly uncertainly.

"They're yours to look around in, if you want," Molly said, "but I wouldn't suggest it. Go ahead and fill up a few bags, take plenty, you'll probably want an owl, and a nice wand, robes, books…"

Ellie filled two decently large bags with Galleons, one with Sickles, and one with Knuts at Molly's insistence, and she was a little worried she'd taken too much, but she hadn't even made a dent.

She started to tell Molly she could have some, but she knew it would come off as insulting, so she just followed her back to the train car.

"Bloody hell," George muttered to her. She bit her lip and swallowed, feeling guilty and, once again, curious.

* * *

Once they were out of Gringotts, Ellie tried to stash her money surreptitiously on the bottom of her trolley. It was still rather obvious, but glancing around, she saw that most other witches and wizards there also had decent amounts of money.

"All right, Ellie, you and Ron can go and buy your things," Molly said. "Ginny, you can come with us and get something to eat, and Fred, George, Percy, I've given you your money for books and robes. Remember, Ellie, Ron, just be sure you get robes, books, and a wand… Ellie, whatever else you want is your choice."

"Wow," Ron said when he started off with Ellie. "Mum would've never let me shop without her if you weren't here."

Ellie laughed, glad she was getting to spend some alone time with Ron—she'd spent most of the summer with Ginny and the twins. "You're welcome, then. So which wand store do you guys go to?"

"Ollivander's," he replied, "best wands there are." He pointed to a shop close by. "And it's close to Flourish & Blotts, so we'll go there next."

She followed him into Ollivander's, where an old, nice-looking man (though a little odd-looking, too) was scribbling something in quill. He didn't look up when they came in, but said, "Welcome, how may I help you?"

"We're here for our first wands," Ron said a little uncertainly. Ellie was with him: they were both young, and hadn't ever been shopping alone, at least not for something important like this.

The man, presumably Ollivander, finished writing and looked up at them. He smiled. "You, then, are you a Weasley?" he asked Ron.

Ron's ears turned pink and he nodded. "Yeah."

"Wasn't an insult, my boy, your big family gives me lots of business," he explained heartily. "Now, just follow me and I'll start looking right away… And you, miss, you are?"

"Uh, Ellie," she replied. "Bretherworth," she added with a pained expression.

He nodded, obviously not recognizing the name. "Muggle?"

She shook her head. "No—well, not really, I'm a pureblood but I grew up around Muggles."

He nodded again, not really interested as much as studying. "Well, I'll take your measurements after this boy's, and I'll keep you in mind while I look for him." He smiled and led Ron toward the back, where Ellie assumed he was being measured.

"Psst," whispered someone from behind her after only a few seconds. Ellie's head whipped around to rest on George, with Fred only a foot or so behind him, looking cheerful.

"What're you doing here?" Ellie asked. "Shouldn't you be with Percy?"

George snorted. "Right. Percy."

"We wanted to see you get your wand," Fred explained. "Figured since we won't see each other as much this year as we have in the summer, we'll cherish our last moments with you and all."

She pouted. "Don't make it sound so depressing."

"Sorry, can't help it."

George grinned. "So where's Ronald?"

Narrowing her eyebrows at them for making her feel depressed, she said, "In the back, getting measured or something. Ollivander seems nice."

"He's nice, but I didn't like my choice of wand very much," Fred said, holding up a short, slightly thick brown wand. "Works well, but it's not exactly attractive… ash and unicorn hair."

She shrugged. "Unicorn hair, that sounds cool."

"But it's so feminine," George explained. "Mine's the same."

"Figures," she said with a grin. They continued chatter until Ron returned with a nice-looking, very long, dark brown wand which he explained was unicorn hair and willow. He looked proud.

"He's giving me a discount because I'm a Weasley," he said, beaming. "That means I might not have to buy secondhand robes."

"Hey," Fred said, "you didn't give _us _discounts, Ollie."

Ollivander looked amused; he didn't even know the twins, and they were calling him Ollie. "It's all your parents' money, innit?" he asked easily. Fred and George's expressions both turned moody, but they quickly recovered when Ollivander held out a measuring tape for Ellie.

It did everything on its own, magically, measuring her height, arm length, finger length, and, surprisingly, foot size.

"Every little bit counts," Ollivander explained. Ellie half expected it to measure her chest (which was very flat, as she hadn't yet hit adolescence), but luckily it stopped just in time.

"All right, long arms, long fingers, but you're not tall… then again, just a child, you'll grow…" He was muttering to himself. "All right, then, try this." He handed her a box, which she opened carefully. The wand inside was a dark brown similar to Ron's.

"Dragon heartstring, olive, ten inches… give it a wave…"

She picked it up and did so, blowing up quite a few boxes in the process.

Ollivander sighed. "Happened just a few hours ago to a boy… all right, let's try…" He grinned. "Ah, definitely, I have a feeling this is the one. Very special, just finished it…" He grinned at her. "Goes with your hair."

Assuming he meant her silver streak (which also matched her eyes), she took it out of the box and almost audibly gasped in surprise. It was long and shaped, and had a comfortable-looking handle—but the best part was its color, which was indeed silver.

"Cherry and phoenix feather, thirteen and a half inches, decorated by a friend of mine. No worries, I checked up on it. And the phoenix was nice—passed on, actually."

Ron looked confused. "Phoenixes can pass on?"

"Willingly. Unfortunately Ringo had a bit of a nasty owner."

"Ringo?" Ellie asked, grinning. "Was his owner by any chance a Muggle-born?"

Ollivander looked confused, but nodded. Clearly he hadn't heard of the Beatles. "Yes, now, I have a feeling it'll suit you, but wave it for me."

She picked it up, already feeling a warm, satisfying, bonding feeling before use. Then she gave it a short flick in a corner, where silver fireworks spiraled around merrily.

"Sweet," George said excitedly. "Teach us, we love fireworks."

Ollivander had a curious look on his face that had nothing to do with George. "What is your father's name, please?" he asked Ellie.

"Er," she said, once again feeling a bit of a sinking feeling at her father being brought up, "Andrew. Andrew Bretherworth."

He frowned. "Odd. Must not have bought from me… your mother's?"

"Serena? Serena Prince."

"Yes, yes," he said, "thought I recognized her in you. But the wand you have, I sold a phoenix feather and cherry of this size one other time. Different phoenix, but he can't have been your father… Anyway, that's the one for you." He quietly told Ellie the price, and she dug into her bag of Galleons to pay him, still curious about his cryptic hints. Still, she accepted the wand excitedly, holding it instead of putting it in her trolley. She noticed with a slight smile that Ron did the same.

Fred and George took turns tossing insults at the newbies, but it wasn't taken to heart. They made their way to Flourish & Blotts, where they picked up all their required books—the lists were different from Ellie and Ron's to Fred and George's, something that sent another disappointed pang in her chest.

They made their way into Madam Malkin's Robes nextdoor, where Ellie and Ron went to the new section and Fred and George poutingly went over to the used. Ellie felt guilty as she shuffled through the robes. She let Madam Malkin tailor hers, and then snagged Fred and George's measurements and bought them each a very nice, new black robe. Out of guilt, she bought a third for Ron, one he wouldn't be able to afford even with his wand sale money. She still had have plenty left.

"How many did you buy?" Fred asked in annoyance when she saw the huge amount of robes Ellie had stuffed onto her trolley.

She thrust one of the robes at him, and then the other two at Ron and George. "Don't tell your mum," she warned. When Fred started to protest, she glared at him playfully.

"Okay, fine," he said, and smiled. "Thanks, El. But for future reference, we don't need your charity. We like secondhand robes, actually."

She laughed. "It wasn't charity. It was help with style—at least this'll cover up your ugly argyle vests."

George gasped and threw a Bertie Botts bean at her, which she returned with a spellbook. Then she blushed and retrieved it from the ground.

"That was stupid," she admitted as they made their way to Eeylops Owl Emporium. "Finally, I get an owl!"

She could tell Ron wanted one, but she couldn't afford to get him an owl, and he had a rat, at any rate. When she stepped inside, she was engulfed in mostly darkness, with a bit of light and lots of hooting.

She looked around the shop for several minutes, letting her eyes adjust and taking in each owl separately. She considered a very pretty snowy owl who seemed well-mannered, but just as she took a step closer to it, a huge man probably three times as tall as her and just as round walked up to it and pulled out its cage. He cooed something to it before heading up to the register.

She bit her lip and kept looking. All the owls were the same, mostly brown and a few white. She hated being so picky, but it was a big decision, and luckily the others didn't look anxious. Finally her eyes settled on a bird toward the back, who she wasn't even sure qualified as an owl. It had the owl's round face, but it was nearly black, with surprisingly cute eyes and longer wings and a thinner body than regular owls.

"Ah, that's our baby," said a voice from behind her. She jumped and turned to see a nice-looking man, probably in his thirties, gruff and with a bit of stubble.

"What's his name?" Ellie asked.

"Haven't named him," he replied. "He's incredibly well-mannered, but he's been here for quite a few months now, no one wants a bird that's not all owl. He's part owl, mind you. Part Screech. But somehow his dad mated with a raven, and…" He gestured to the bird. "He was the result."

She laughed. "But he can fly? Deliver mail?"

He nodded. "Definitely—all our birds are trained well. And he's got a faster speed than normal owls, so he'll be faster at the post. I do recommend him."

She looked back at the owl-raven, who was giving her a sad but hopeful look. She sighed and smiled. "Okay, I'll take him," she said, and started to take him to the register.

"Just give me a Sickle, it's the best I can ask," the man said. "Doubt he would've ever been sold."

"That's really nice of you," she said, handing him a Sickle. She added a few Knuts as a tip. "Thank you!"

He nodded and waved, and Ellie found her way to the others, walking outside with them.

"He's… weird," George offered.

"I think he's cute," she said defensively. "Defective, but cute. I think I'm gonna name him Ringo, y'know, after the dead phoenix…"

No one could suppress their laughter, but they all welcomed Ringo into the family.

Their next stop was the all-purpose store, where Ellie spotted broomsticks. Despite Ron's insistence that she wouldn't be able to ride in her first year, she bought herself a nice Cleansweep (she liked the looks of the Nimbus 2000, but knew she shouldn't spend the money).

They finished their shopping with a stop at the cauldron shop and then a quick pit stop at Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour. They all got triple cones with their leftovers (Ellie knew that if she treated them she'd be stretching it), and munched in happiness, Ellie keeping her gaze on Ringo, happily perched in his cage.

"Okay, I think we're done," Fred said when he finished chewing up his cone. "To the Burrow?"

Ellie smiled. "To the Burrow."

* * *

Her last three days at the Burrow were both sad and exciting: on one hand, these days had been the best of her life; on the other, she had Hogwarts to look forward to now. She just hoped she'd be in Gryffindor. Fred and George had told her about it, and she wasn't sure what she'd be, but she wanted to be with them.

She spent her days playing Quidditch (Percy had caught her using his broom, but he didn't really care), helping Molly with the meals, enjoying her last hours with Ginny, and spending her midnights with Fred outside. It had gotten to be a routine for her, and sometimes she felt bad that George couldn't be there, too, but she liked the quality time. Then again, she saw George plenty as it was. The twins were becoming her best friends.

Finally, on day three, they were ready to go. They were to travel by floo powder to the train station, where they would split up from the parents and head off to Hogwarts on the Hogwarts Express. Ellie couldn't be more excited; as she piled her things onto her trolley with Fred and George, she couldn't stop smiling.

"What a weird animal," George said when his eyes found Ringo again. "Can't have had many owl-friends."

"Well, he's got me," she insisted, kneeling to smile down at her bird from inside his cage. "They're okay with the powder, right?"

"Yeah, if we are, they are," Fred replied. "But with all that stuff, we can only fit one at a time. Otherwise we might… explode or something."

She grinned. "That's fine. So shall we go?"

George led them both out of the room, and they met the rest of the family in the living room. They took turns dropping the dust and transporting to a hidden fireplace just outside of King's Cross, where Ellie appeared in a coughing fit. She still wasn't used to this travel.

"So why is it called 'nine and three quarters'?" Ellie asked the twins as they walked.

"Good question, it should really be nine and a half," Fred said airily as Molly popped in. Ron was next, followed by Arthur and then Ginny. Finally Percy came, and that was everyone.

"It's because we go through a brick wall between platforms nine and ten," George explained. "It's quite fun—you run as fast as you can through the wall, and then you kind of go through it and appear somewhere else."

"We'll show you," Molly assured her, and they stopped in front of it. Ellie glanced around at all the Muggles, confused.

"Be as discreet as possible," Arthur warned. "Don't want Muggles to see you."

George went first, to show him, and then Fred. As said, they really did just walk or run straight at the wall and go through it. Ellie heaved a sigh and started to move, but she stopped when she heard a voice from behind her.

"Excuse me, can you tell me how to…?" The boy was clearly having trouble stating what they were doing.

Ron grinned at Ellie as Molly explained.

"All you have to do is walk straight at the wall," Molly said carefully, "and you'll just… go through it."

"My first time too," Ellie told him easily. At the beginning of the summer she would've been mortified to talk to a boy casually, but Fred and George had really matured her—along with making her much more carefree.

He smiled nervously. He was cute, probably would be cuter if not for his accessories: round glasses, scrubby clothing, and a noticeable scar on his forehead. "Thanks," he mumbled. "I s'pose I'll just go, then…" But he seemed reluctant.

"Ellie, go with him," Molly said. "Ron, you follow up."

"Good luck," Ginny said to both of them.

Ellie gave Ginny one last hug before pushing her cart over to the wall with Harry. She casually leaned on it, feeling herself dip into it, and a second later the scene had changed into a bustling place with a waiting train nearby. She saw Fred and George close ahead, and glanced beside her to make sure the boy was okay.

"You're alone?" she asked as she resumed walking.

He nodded. "Er—I was dropped off here." He didn't elaborate. "Thanks."

She nodded easily, and kept walking next to him as she approached Fred and George, who were waiting. Fred glanced at the boy curiously. "Who's this?"

"I'm Harry," Harry explained. Again, he didn't elaborate.

"Nice to meet you, then, I'm Fred, this is George, but really you can call me George and him Fred, or whatever, but Ellie here actually says I have a distinct freckle…"

"By the way, I decided what that really was," she said. They stopped by the train entrance, waiting for Ron and Percy to catch up. "It's not the freckle. It's your expressions. And posture. Fred's is slouchier. George, you're expression's less… about-to-do-a-prank-y." She grinned, wishing her vocabulary was stronger.

"Are you implying I can't do pranks?" George asked, pouting.

Harry laughed, and was interrupted when Ron and Percy caught up. "Who's this?" Ron asked, just as his brother had, and they made introductions. This time Harry added his last name.

There was a silence for a second, before Percy said in annoyance, "Let's do this _inside,_" and boarded the train. Ellie followed, giving Ron a curious expression—he was staring at Harry, wide-eyed and rather rudely.

They found an empty compartment right away, that hardly seated the lot of them—Percy left to find his own. Ellie sat with Fred and George, and Ron and Harry sat next to each other, looking less at ease.

"Um," Ellie said, wanting to strike up conversation, as everyone was still staring at Harry as if he were holy. "Well, Harry, sorry they're staring at you like that, I dunno why…"

Harry shook his head. "It's okay, it's because of my name. Are you a Muggle?"

"No—kind of." She frowned. "What do I not know?"

"Poor Ellie," Fred said with a shake of his head to George. He righted his stunned expression and explained, "Harry Potter is the Boy Who Lived and Didn't Die From the Curse Everybody Dies From, which made him this huge celebrity except that he went into Muggle-hiding."

"Oh." Ellie blinked. "What?"

"She doesn't even know who You-Know-Who is," Ron said, shaking his head.

"I think you mean You-_Don't_-Know-Who," George corrected, chuckling at his own lame attempt at a joke.

"She does," Fred said in a surprisingly serious voice, glancing at Ellie carefully. She knew why—she had spoken with him about her father and Voldemort.

"It doesn't really matter," Harry said. "Anyway, so, all of you are siblings?"

"Not Ellie," said Ron. "She lived with us for the summer. But the rest of us are. So you're a first-year?

Harry nodded.

"We're third-years," Fred said proudly, gesturing to George. They all felt a bit of a lurch as the train took off and the door slid shut. A second later, it opened again.

"Fred, George," greeted a friendly-looking black boy who was a bit scrawny. "Aren't you coming? Angelina and Wood want to talk Quidditch."

George got up to leave, but Fred sent Ellie a glance for approval. She nodded, surprised he'd bothered.

"I'll be back," he said, and sent Harry a nod before leaving.

Now that Ellie was alone on her side, facing Ron and Harry, she felt much more vulnerable. She'd been in a compartment with all guys, but it hadn't hit her until now. She sighed and propped her legs up on the seat.

"So, do either of you know any spells?" Harry asked hopefully.

Ellie shook her head, her mind wandering back to her beautiful silver wand, but Ron nodded anxiously. "I do, I haven't been allowed to try it this summer, but technically we're on school grounds now… let's see…" He pulled out his wand, and then out of nowhere, his rat. Harry stiffened a little, and Ellie jumped.

"_Ron,_" she hissed, "don't just keep your rat in your pocket or whatever—"

"He was in his cage, you just didn't see it," Ron snapped, and placed his wand carefully on Scabbers's back. "Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow… turn this stupid fat rat yellow!"

Ellie blinked at the rat for a few seconds, but nothing other than a few sparks happened. She grinned at Harry, who was laughing. They were interrupted this time by a saleslady with the lolly trolley.

"Any of you dears want anything?" she asked politely. Ron shook his head, but Ellie and Harry both handed over several coins, buying a decent amount of everything, and offered to share with Ron. Within fifteen minutes, Ellie had tried at least ten flavours of Bertie Botts, let one Chocolate Frog escape and one go, and had several other curious candies. They munched happily until someone came in, this time a girl.

"Have any of you seen a toad?" she asked flatly, not introducing herself. Ellie noticed that she was very cute, in a lovable way, with bushy, dirty blond hair and slightly long front teeth.

"Um, er, no," Ron said in surprise. "And you are?"

"Hermione Granger," she replied, and glanced at his wand with interest. "Have you just been performing a spell? I'd love to see…" She sat next to Ellie without requesting an invitation or even looking at her.

"Didn't work," Ron mumbled. Hermione didn't look surprised.

"I'm Ellie," Ellie said, and finally Hermione glanced at her. "Bretherworth," she added painfully. "You're a first-year, too?"

"Yes, I am," Hermione replied primly. Harry looked amused; Ron looked mortified.

But Ellie was too busy glancing out of the window to make a face. "Look!" she gasped. "It's far away, but—you can see it—it's the castle!"

It was. She was finally there.

* * *

That's all, please review! I hope you liked it, and next chapter will be out soon!


	3. Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry

Hey, here's chapter three, hope you like… those of you who are reading this… I'm not sure how many that is (:

**Chapter 3: Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry**

The train ride lasted much longer than she would've expected, considering she'd already seen it, but Ellie didn't mind. Hermione stayed for a bit to chat, becoming less of a nutter the more they spoke, but Ron still looked partially disgusted. When Fred and George came back, Hermione excused herself, and they took her place. They spent about another half hour before, finally, they reached the castle.

The train pulled to a stop, and Ellie excitedly got up, pulling her things out of the overhead bins. Ringo, who had been flying freely around the compartment, settled back into his cage. She followed Fred and George off the train, followed shortly behind by Ron and Harry.

"Firs'-years, we're takin' boats," said a voice from behind her. She glanced around to see a huge man, and recognized his voice and self: He was the man from the owl store who had taken the snowy owl.

"Hagrid," Harry greeted excitedly, and ran up to the huge man excitedly. She noticed in surpise that the owl in Harry's cage was a snowy white one, as well. No doubt a present.

"We're taking horseless carriages," Fred explained to Ellie, "so we'll meet you back in the Great Hall, eh?"

"Bye," she said as George waved, and she followed closely behind Ron and Harry, hoping the boats were three to one. Luckily they were, and she mounted in the back. She would've kept a conversation flowing with the boys, but the beauty of the castle and the darkness shadowing the lake made her speechless.

The castle was huge and ominous, though it was clearly comforting during daylight. The lake was calm and lit with hazy bulbs along the shore, and she felt surprisingly safe on the journey there. The large man was taking up a boat by himself, and he seemed eager to talk to them.

"I'm Hagrid," he explained to Ellie and Ron. "Met Harry coupla weeks ago, din' I, Harry?"

Harry nodded, smiling. "Yeah, he rescued me from my insane aunt and uncle."

"I saw you at the Emporium," Ellie said to him. "You bought Harry's bird, didn't you? I was looking at her…"

Hagrid blushed. "Sorry 'bout that. Spotted a good bird when I saw one, and yeh din't look sure."

Ellie shrugged. "No worries, I got a great one myself," she assured him.

The rest of the ride to the castle was mostly quiet, with Ron and Harry taking turns making similar grunts of amazement. Finally they reached the shore, got out, and were ushered into the castle.

It was fantastic. The main room was split into staircases and opened to a hallway, and she would've lingered, but they were already being handed over to a different teacher, an older witch with a low bun and a pointed hat, who was leading them to a small room.

"Greetings," she said, "I am Professor McGonagall, your Transfiguration teacher, and welcome to Hogwarts… now, in a few moments you will pass through these doors to the Great Hall and be Sorted. I will ask you to please wait here until they are ready." She left with a swoosh of her cloak and was gone.

Everyone was muttering things to one another, Ellie to the wide-eyed girl next to her, mostly reassuring her. "It's okay," Ellie said, laughing slightly, "this is going to be great."

"But what if the Sorting Hat doesn't work?" the girl practically shrieked. "Oh dear… Oh, sorry… I'm Lavender Brown…"

Ellie smiled. "It's fine. I'm Ellie."

Just then, a blond boy who looked particularly snide shuffled his way over to Harry. Ellie sensed trouble but kept her mouth shut.

"My name's Malfoy," the boy said, stopping in front of Harry. Everyone else was quiet. "Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a bit of a snort; Ellie had to mirror his. Hermione nudged both of them, but stopped when Draco rounded his attention on them.

"No need to ask yours," Draco said, sneering at Ron. "Red hair, hand-me-down robes…"

"So he has better hair than you," Ellie interrupted boldly. "It's not his fault."

Draco glared at her as everyone around them chuckled a bit. "And what are you, a Muggle?"

"No," she said stiffly, "but if you have something to say about them, go right ahead."

He glared at her for a second, but she could tell he wanted no further humiliation, so he snapped his head back around to Harry. "These are your friends?" he asked, gesturing at them. "A Weasley, a brat, and a Muggle? Potter, you could really benefit from learning which wizards are better than others." He extended a hand. "I can help."

Harry stared at the hand for a second, but Ellie knew he wouldn't shake. Draco had just insulted the only three friends he had. "I think I've got the hang of that, Malfoy," Harry replied curtly. The onlookers drew breaths and grinned again, but they were interrupted when McGonagall returned and shooed Draco away.

"All right," McGonagall said, "you may enter the Great Hall."

* * *

Ellie caught both of the twins' eyes on her way in, and they gave her thumbs-ups. But she knew they wouldn't be quite so enthusiastic if she wasn't a Gryffindor—especially not if she was a Slytherin.

When the first-years were gathered around the hat on the chair, they were quieted, and the hat began to sing.

_"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,  
But don't judge on what you see,  
I'll eat myself if you can find  
A smarter hat than me.  
You can keep your bowlers black,  
Your top hats sleek and tall,  
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat  
And I can top them all.  
There's nothing hidden in your head  
The Sorting Hat can't see,  
So try me on and I will tell you  
Where you ought to be.  
You might belong in Gryffindor,  
Where dwell the brave at heart,  
Their daring, nerve and chivalry  
Set Gryffindors apart;  
You might belong in Hufflepuff,  
Where they are just and loyal,  
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true  
And unafraid of toil;  
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,  
If you've a steady mind,  
Where those of wit and learning,  
Will always find their kind;  
Or perhaps in Slytherin  
You'll make your real friends,  
Those cunning folk use any means  
To achieve their ends.  
So put me on! Don't be afraid!  
And don't get in a flap!  
You're in safe hands (though I have none)  
For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

_  
_Everyone burst into applause, including Ellie; she was amazed that the hat could be that intelligent. Furthermore, she'd learned the facts about the Houses. Still, she wasn't sure which she would be. Slytherin? She doubted it; she wasn't very cunning, and she hated the thought of Dark magic. Gryffindor seemed too brave; she doubted she had it in her. Then again, Fred and George weren't exactly gallant, were they? She wasn't brainy enough for Ravenclaw, though, so did that make her a Hufflepuff?

She groaned inwardly and crossed her arms. Lavender was still pacing at her side. Ellie realized with a pang that she was to be the second one Sorted, after Susan Bones (a Hufflepuff).

"Elena Bretherworth?" McGonagall shouted. Ellie, cursing her awful name, walked carefully up to the chair and sat down. The second the Hat was placed on her head, it began to hiss to her.

_Elena Bretherworth? This is not a name, this is a disguise… but I sense the lines that you do not… your father was a Gryffindor, but everyone else in your familiy were Slytherins… In yourself you seem like another, Ravenclaw? No. Hufflepuff? Perhaps… no, the power in you lies too strong, you belong with Godric or Salazar… but who do you take after, ancestors or parents?_

She didn't understand. Her father was a Gryffindor? She hadn't known that. And since when was her name a disguise? And all her ancestors had been Slytherins? How bad had they been? Or had they been fine?

_Wait, _she thought frantically, _my family, tell me—_

_I cannot! _it snapped. _It is my duty to Sort you, and I cannot decide—but I sense the good in you, the love, the desire for family—here it is; your ancestors would not be proud—_

"Gryffindor!"

Everyone at the Gryffindor table burst into applause, and Ellie's face broke into a smile as she jumped off the stool and ran over to the table, tripping a little in the process. She reached them with a sigh of thankfulness, her mind still racing, and took a seat across Fred and George. Minutes later, Lavender Brown joined her, looking just as relieved as she had been.

"We'll still get to see each other loads," George assured Ellie. "I was just worried you'd be in a different house. Then we'd never see each other."

She smiled, glad for his loyalty, but was distracted by Fred. "But what took so long?" Fred asked.

She shrugged. "He was analyzing my family tree, or something. Wouldn't tell me anything. But apparently my whole family are all Slytherins, except my dad. He was a Gryffindor."

"Really?" George asked in surprise.

Ellie nodded. "Yeah, why?"

"Well, it's weird," Fred explained, "for a Gryffindor to go bad. I mean, it's not impossible, but it's much more unusual. The Sorting Hat doesn't usually make errors like that."

She didn't see what use this conversation was, as clearly the Sorting Hat _did _make an error, so she averted her attention to Hermione, who was stumbling happily over to their table and sat down on Ellie's other side.

"…_so _relieved," Hermione was saying, "really I would've been okay with Ravenclaw, but it just wasn't the same, and the Hat seemed _certain _I was a Gryffindor."

Everyone offered their congratulations, and soon Harry was stepping up to the seat. He lasted even longer than Ellie had, looking nervous and confused, mouthing something… Ellie had a feeling he was saying he didn't want to be in Slytherin. And sure enough, a minute or so later, the Hat shouted "Gryffindor!" and their table burst into applause. Even Dumbledore looked relieved; Hagrid looked ecstatic.

Finally things came to Ron, one of the last ones, and he, too, was sorted Gryffindor. Mean as they could sometimes be to him, Fred and George looked thrilled, enough even to congratulate him.

"All right, so everyone cool is in Gryffindor," Ellie said cheerfully. "Sweet."

Hermione smiled. "It's going to be a great year."

* * *

They enjoyed the feast while it lasted, everyone talking animatedly, and were led back to the common rooms by the heads of houses—Percy was leading them. Ellie mostly stuck with Fred and George, but since they weren't as in awe as her, sometimes she went back to gasping with Ron, Harry, Lavender, and Hermione.

"Here we are," Fred said when they stopped in front of a poster. "The Fat Lady!"

"Caput Draconis," Percy said to the poster of the lady (who was moving around); she smiled and bowed her head, and the door swung open. Percy stood back as the students piled inside.

"Your things will be waiting in your room," Percy shouted. "Girls, staircase on your right; boys, to your left."

Ron and Harry went up to their room, and Lavender and Hermione to theirs. Ellie wasn't ready to leave yet, though; she had to at least get a feel for the common room.

"So we just hang out here whenever we don't have class?" Ellie asked.

George grinned. "If you want. We tend to explore, rather than hang out here…"

"Explore," she repeated. She grinned and shook her head. "Right. So how big are the grounds, apart from the castle?" She took a seat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, and they followed suit. Everyone else seemed intent on getting to the dormitories; it was getting late.

"Pretty big," Fred replied. "The lake, woods, greenhouses, courtyards, Forbidden Forest, Hagrid's grounds, and the Quidditch field…"

"We've got to introduce you to Wood tomorrow," George added. "See if he needs a Chaser or something."

She grinned, her mind going back to the Cleansweep waiting for her. "My broom would be pretty mad at me if I didn't get a spot," she admitted.

"Well," George said, "tomorrow's the first big day. Classes and all. Ready to use your wand?"

More than ready. She'd been taking it out and staring at it every five minutes; everyone else she'd met so far had black or brown wands. "Definitely," she said.

"I reckon you'll like Charms," said Fred. "That one's my favourite, very useful… George's is Transfiguration."

"Nothing like changing a rat into a goblet," George said with a satisfied grin.

Ellie laughed. "So what about the other classes? Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts? Potions?"

"Defense is pretty cool," said George. "We're not particularly good at it, but it's always fun to learn. Herbology's okay, and Potions… well, it's bloody awful, and the teacher's a disaster."

"I didn't really pay attention to the teachers," Ellie admitted. "I was too busy freaking out."

"Well, you saw Dumbledore," said Fred. "He's the best. Always lets us off the hook for troublemaking, too. Snape was the greasy-haired one, you'll see him at breakfast. And you know Hagrid."

"And I," George announced, "am tired. See you in the morning?"

Ellie smiled and got up with them. They parted, some of the last left in the common room, and she made her way upstairs to bed.

* * *

That night, Ellie learned that the girls sharing the common room with her were Hermione, Lavender, a girl named Parvati Patil, and a girl named Eloise Midgen.

Eloise seemed to avoid Ellie, and Ellie had a feeling it had to do with jealousy. Ellie didn't think highly of herself, but it was true that she was a pretty girl, while poor Eloise was spot-skinned and a bit heavy. Lavender and Parvati were both nice but a little too gossipy, and Hermione was the same as she had been earlier.

The next morning, Ellie dressed silently. She'd been up for a few hours, not sure what she was doing, and now that light was starting to show, she figured she could. She pulled on her uniform and robes, and slipped on her checkerboard Vans. She brushed out her hair, wondering when her silver streak would fade, and made her way to the common rooms.

To her surprise, the twins were already there, along with Lee Jordan. She sleepily walked over to them and sat at their table, blinking to focus at what they were looking at.

"A plan," Lee explained, "for Spell-Checking Quills."

Ellie raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Wow. You're making them yourself?"

Lee nodded eagerly, obviously excited Fred and George had let him in on their quest. "Yep, and they're gonna be much less detectable than the ones the joke shops make."

Fred nodded. "The professors will just have to believe we got miraculously smart this summer."

She laughed and glanced at their plans, which mostly consisted of substances and spells she'd never heard of. Finally it was time for breakfast, and she tagged along with the twins to the Great Hall. Once their plates were filled, McGonagall walked down the Gryffindor table to hand out schedules.

"We won't be having any classes with you," George explained. "It's all year-based. Sometimes if a sixth- and seventh-year changes their Newt, they'll be in the same class, but that'll never happen to us anyway."

Ellie nodded, chewing on a biscuit and glancing at her schedule. A few seats down, she saw Ron scowl; it was probably because their second class was Potions. First was Transfiguration, then Potions, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Charms, and Herbology. She glanced at Fred, who was sitting next to her, and asked, "So who are the teachers?"

"Transfiguration's McGonagall," he explained. "You just met her. She's strict, but not so bad, I think she likes us okay. Defense is Quirrel." He pointed. "Pretty weird guy, but he teaches all right."

Ellie glanced up to the teacher's table. Quirrel was wearing a turban and talking to a teacher she didn't recognize, and he looked comfortable, but there was some manner about him which seemed jerky and inconsistent.

"Charms is Flitwick, the short guy, and he's decent… Herbology's with Sprout, she's all right… and then Potions, you've got Snape." His voice drew back a bit, and he didn't even make a decent joke.

She glanced down the row. Flitwick looked nice, as did Professor Sprout. But when her glance reached Snape, she froze.

Not only did she recognize him somehow, she was virtually certain he recognized her, as well. He had been staring at her before she saw him, and for several seconds after she looked back at him, he did not look away. His gaze looked uncertain; there were hints of hate and resentment, but also some kind of fond memory.

"El?" George asked from her other side.

She blushed and looked away, though he had broken contact first to talk to McGonagall. She cleared her throat and said to him, "Ever thought of donating him shampoo?"

Fred grinned. "We've left it on his desk anonymously ten times. To no effect, I assume."

* * *

"Welcome to first year Transfiguration. Please pay attention."

It was very hard for Ellie to pay attention after having seen McGonagall change from a cat to a human; on her left, Hermione didn't look surprised, but on her right, Harry and Ron were gaping.

"Today we will be turning matches into needles."

Harry and Ron continued gaping. Ellie found herself twirling her hair uncomfortably around her quill, which did not have the same effect as using a pencil. Hermione, however, looked calm and collected.

McGonagall gave the instructions, but it didn't particularly help. Hermione, who had gotten hers changed within the first ten minutes, gave Ellie a sympathetic glance and tried to help her through it. By the end of class, Ellie's needle match had turned strangely silver and could no longer strike fire, but was still mostly a match. Ron and Harry could not say that much; theirs were blunt needles that struck fire and had what seemed to be their own personalities.

After Transfiguration, Ellie followed Ron, Harry, and Hermione downstairs to the dungeons. Harry and Ron seemed to mostly be avoiding Hermione; Ron was clearly jealous of her witchcraft skills. Harry just seemed to be valuing his time with his one good friend. Ellie didn't really know where she fit in without Fred and George; everyone seemed to be a friend, but no one seemed to be a very close one.

By the time they got to the dungeons, she settled on sitting between two boys called Dean and Seamus at a separate table. Ellie noticed at that time that the class was shared with Slytherins; she spotted Draco whispering something about Harry with a few of his friends.

"Hey, I'm Dean," Dean greeted from Ellie's side, even though she already knew it. "So excited to be here, aren't you? Were you a Muggle?"

She shook her head. "Not really… that is, my parents aren't… you?"

"Mum's a Muggle," he explained. "Not really sure about my dad… what about you, Seamus?"

Seamus grinned and said in a bit of an annoying accent, "Half-and-half. Mum's a witch, Dad's a Muggle. She didn't tell him for quite some time, either."

Severus Snape came into the room with such a swoosh of his cloak that Ellie felt herself stupidly move out of the way of it. Everyone instantly quieted, and he moved wordlessly to the front.

"There will be no foolish wand-waving or silly incantations," he warned quickly and sternly, "in this class. Potion-making is a divine art that will not be taken lightly by any of you, am I clear?" But he did not wait for a response; he continued his rather dark speech in a way that was supposed to make Potions sound appealing but made it sound sickening. Ellie doodled a picture of Snape with bunny ears and a devil's tail, which Dean and Seamus had to bite on their mouths not to laugh at. But it didn't matter; Snape's attention was on Harry, who was also scribbling something.

"Mr. Potter," he was saying smoothly and darkly. "Our new celebrity."

He wasn't saying it appreciatively. Ellie raised her eyes from her drawing to look up at Snape, whose black eyes were peeled on Harry. "Tell me, what would you get if you added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"

Ellie gaped at him. Harry blinked and said, "I don't know, sir." Hermione raised her hand eagerly, but was ignored; she thought she heard Draco snigger.

"Ah, and where would you look if I asked you to find a bezoar?"

Harry shook his head again; Hermione raised her hand again. She was ignored.

"And what is the difference between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

To her own surprise, Ellie found herself raising her hand. She doubted he would call on her, but she felt proud to know the answer. She knew it from her mother, she was fairly certain, though she wasn't sure from where. She just knew that the answer was there was no difference. Draco scowled at her.

"Pity," Snape said, clearly ignoring them. "Clearly fame isn't everything."

That made Ellie mad, obviously. It wasn't like Harry _should _know these things; he grew up with his Muggle uncle and aunt, from what she'd gathered. She sighed and pulled out her notes again, this time adding a bit of sheen to Snape's hair and having little drops of grease fall from it.

Seamus and Dean sniggered aloud that time. Snape's head whipped around to find them, and Ellie blushed deeply; if he saw the drawing, she'd be done for.

Dean subtly pulled out his wand, tapped her book, and whispered, _Concialio. _In a split second, the drawings disappeared. She exhaled deeply.

"You three," Snape snapped, walking briskly over to them. "You think this is funny?" He glanced at Ellie's notebook, but saw nothing.

"No, sir," the three of them said at once, Ellie with distaste.

"So you laugh at something you don't find funny?"

Ellie blinked. She had no idea why she decided to be smart-mouthed, or whatever she was deciding to be, but she did. "I had a bogey," she explained. "In my nose. You know guys. So immature. Sir."

Everyone in the class laughed this time. She wondered if they believed her, but they didn't; clearly they knew she was making fun of Snape, which was why Draco and his friends weren't laughing.

"And you think you know the answer," Snape asked, changing the subject, "to my last question?"

"Er," she said, "I think there is no difference between monkshood and wolfsbane."

"And you think that because you know that, you have the right to disturb my class? Five points from Gryffindor. Do you have anything else to say?"

A few Gryffindors were scowling; she shook her head.

"Your name?" he asked.

She blinked. "Ellie."

"When I ask for your name, I ask for your full name." He seemed curious, like he wanted to make sure of something; his snide comments were simply toppings.

"Ellie Bretherworth," she said quickly, "and sir, I don't think it was completely fair about how you treated Harry." She got it out quickly, mostly because she wanted revenge.

"Oh?"

"I just think that… well, that is, do you want to know why?"

He glared at her. "Enlighten me."

Everyone in the class looked captivated.

She bit her lip. "Well, for one thing, it's not like he has any control over being famous, and for another, how is he _supposed _to know any of those answers when he grew up with Muggles? And mostly, I just kind of was wondering, isn't that your job, teaching us this stuff, instead of quizzing us before it's been taught?"

A long, thick silence filled up the room.

"Ten further points from Gryffindor," he snapped, "and a detention this Sunday evening, Miss Bretherworth."

She was dying to tell him to call her Ellie, but she figured she'd leave well enough alone; the other members of her house were starting to get agitated.

When the bell rang, she couldn't get out of the classroom fast enough.

* * *

Defense Against the Dark Arts was surprisingly boring. Quirrel had a monotonous voice that got a little quivery whenever any of the Gryffindors spoke, and all he did was go over the first chapter of their book, promising they would start spells in a few lessons. Ellie left the class with a wave of disappointment; the only time so far she'd used her beautiful wand was when she failingly changed a match to a needle.

Next was lunch. Ellie met up with Fred and George in the Great Hall, but they weren't sitting down.

"We asked McGonagall, and she said the courtyard by Hagrid's is okay to spend lunch in," George explained. "Or the common rooms, but that's a bit boring. You coming?"

She shrugged and grabbed a tray from a table, but Fred stopped her.

"I have friends in the kitchens," he explained, and handed her a wrapped food product she recognized immediately. "They didn't know what a 'sub' was, but I explained."

She beamed and took it gratefully, then followed them outside.

"So, how's your first day?" Fred asked her when they sat down. She noticed with a bit of pleasure that they had parted to let her sit in between them on the bench.

"Okay," she said, "so far. I mean, I knocked off fifteen points for Gryffindor and earned a detention—"

"No way!" George said. He grinned and high-fived her. "That's gotta be a record, we've knocked off a few points, but the first day's not even over."

"Snape?" Fred asked her, wrinkling his nose.

She nodded. "Yeah. He was being a… erm, a bit rude to Harry, and I tried to stick up for him, and, you know." She shrugged. "Could've been worse. Anyway, Defense was a bit boring, and Transfiguration was good, but I wasn't. Potions… you know. Didn't really have a favourite yet."

"Hm," George said. "I reckon you'll be good at Charms. Fred's best is Charms too, but mine's always been Transfiguration, don't know why."

She smiled and launched them into talks of their day, not wanting to spend the whole lunch talking about hers. Apparently they'd been poring over Spell Check Quill plans in History of Magic, and Binns caught them, but other than that, nothing eventful.

Ellie finished her lunch and said goodbye to them, then made her way to Flitwick's room for Charms. She'd gone to Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Dean and Seamus, and liked their company, but she had a feeling Hermione was the girl to be with in Charms—and according to Fred and George, she would be needing help, as spells began right away. "Fun," Fred had assured her, "but it's work."

"Is it hard?" Ellie asked Hermione warily as they took their seats.

"I don't know, but I think I'm prepared," Hermione replied in a whisper, even though Flitwick wasn't there yet. "Don't worry, I expect it will be great… Transfiguration was brilliant, wasn't it? I didn't particularly fancy Defense Against the Dark Arts, though Potions seemed decent, besides that dreadful Snape…"

Ellie let her talk for a while, grinning when Ron sent her an apologetic look. A few minutes later, Flitwick stepped in, short and plump and ready to teach.

"Good day, class, I am Professor Flitwick," he squeaked. "Charms is an eventful class that can help in everyday life, temporary problems, and even some very serious problems. It is the subject you see come up most often, and can be very fun to learn if you cooperate. Today we will be attempting a rather simple charm, and we will spend at most one more week on it. It is a Cheering Charm!"

Everyone stared at him blankly; a few people actually laughed.

"All right, well, the incantation is _Liberno. _You will recite the spell to your partner with simply a swish of your wand and a smile on your face. Accent on _er_; make it sound cheerful, everyone!"

Everyone groaned, and Ellie turned to face Hermione, who looked eager.

"Shall I go first?" Hermione asked, and did not wait for a response. Instead she beamed and said, "Well, then, I'm sure I won't hurt you… _Liberno_!"

The effect wasn't huge, but Ellie felt it: it was like the wave of nervousness, anxiety, and discomfort she felt had disappeared for the moment, and she wondered if her cheeks looked as rosy as they felt. It was her turn to beam. "Thanks, Hermione!" she said cheerfully. Apparently Flitwick saw.

"Ah, yes, this one definitely worked," he said. "Congratulations, Miss—"

"Granger," Hermione finished. "Hermione. Gryffindor."

Flitwick smiled. "Ah, yes, then five points to Gryffindor. And you, Miss—?"

"I prefer Ellie," Ellie said brightly, noticing behind her layer of cheer that she could still hate her name properly. "Okay… let's see, _Liberno!_" She swished her wand regally at Hermione, and to her surprise, a second later Hermione was beaming, too.

"Excellent, oh, bravo!" Flitwick exclaimed. "You two girls have a real knack for this class, don't you? Well done, another five points for Gryffindor."

The Ravenclaws they were splitting the class with looked annoyed.

Ellie left the class in high spirits, so high that even sitting in a hot greenhouse for Herbology didn't bring her down. She had done a charm on her first go. The fact that she was a witch was finally sinking in.

* * *

Hope you liked it! PLEASE review. I love reviews. Lack of reviews make me sad.

I'll update with the next chapter as soon as someone reviews, if they choose to, btw. I already have it ready (:

Thanks!


	4. Quaffles and Shapeshifters

Hey everyone, thanks to socialkween's review I decided to update right away, and thanks so much to her! - you're my only reviewer as of now :)

But everyone else, please review!

**Chapter 4: Quaffles and Shapeshifters**

Ellie went to see McGonagall before hall hours were over, remembering that she still had to sign up for Quidditch. Fred and George explained that a boy named Oliver Wood was captain, and that they'd introduce her in a few days when he wasn't quite so loaded with things to do. She'd spotted Oliver in the common room a few times and had to admit he was cute. Much older, of course, but she could dream.

Professor McGonagall was in her office when Ellie knocked. "Come in," she said easily, and Ellie entered.

"Miss Bretherworth," McGonagall greeted easily. "Good evening."

Ellie scowled a bit. "You can really call me Ellie, if you want to, ma'am," she mumbled, but seeing her professor's expression, she got to the point. "Er, I was wondering if I could, um, try out for Chaser."

McGonagall looked at her with interest. "Really? You're one of the only first-years."

Ellie nodded. "I know, but I had some practice over the summer, and I bought a broomstick…"

McGonagall gave her a bit of a funny expression. "Are you aware that first-years are not permitted to ride broomsticks except in the case of Quidditch, and that you would not be permitted to have your broomstick if you did not made the Quidditch team?"

Ellie nodded slowly.

"All right, I'll leave your name with Wood. He's looking for three Chasers this year, so your odds are good."

"Thank you, Professor." Ellie smiled. "So should I contact him, or…?"

"He'll tell you when tryouts are," McGonagall explained. She seemed a little short, but Ellie could tell that was just normal McGonagall behavior.

"Thanks," Ellie said again, and gave an uncomfortable wave before dashing off. When she got back to the common room, it was crowded with people. She hardly found Fred and George at all.

"Oi," Fred greeted when he saw her. "Meant to ask to borrow your guitar, y'know, while you're studying so hard and getting in the Quidditch mood."

Ellie shrugged and nodded. "Okay, I'll get it when I go upstairs. Suddenly harbour an interest in learning?"

He pouted defensively when George added, "Ginny already sent an owl. She said if you find a new bass player, she's slash your eyes out. Sweet girl, isn't she?"

Ellie laughed. "I think it's cute. I don't see how we'll have time for a band anyway, though."

"Where there's a will, there's a way," Fred reminded her, "and it helps if there's a guitar in my hands…"

She rolled her eyes and went upstairs to get her guitar. When she came back down, Fred and George were talking to Oliver. She waited patiently, but George introduced them quickly.

"Oliver, this is Ellie… well, I'd only tell you her last name if I was mad at her."

Ellie scowled at him and shook Oliver's hand, feeling herself melt a bit on the spot. He was impossibly tall, with short but careless, dirty blond hair and smiling brown eyes.

"How are you, Ellie?" Oliver asked politely. She replied with a kind of squealy grunt.

Fred raised his eyebrows and explained, "Ellie wants to try out to be a Chaser this year."

She could tell Oliver was trying to be polite, but he let out, "You're definitely not the first. I've got boatloads this year—especially girls, for some reason. Alicia was on the reserve team last year, but she didn't quite have it… I'm fairly certain about the other two, but we'll see…" He seemed to be drifting off.

Ellie grinned slightly. "I left my name with McGonagall, but I suppose it doesn't matter?"

He shook his head, refocusing. "Sorry, no, I think the tryouts will be this Saturday. I'll talk to you before then to confirm that, okay?"

She smiled and nodded a bit eagerly, feeling herself pout as he said goodbye and walked away.

"Ickle Ellie have a crushy?" George teased. Ellie scowled at him before trudging back up to her room, prepared to get no grief about it from Lavender and Parvati.

* * *

The next week went by surprisingly quickly, with subs for lunch, fun time in the common room between hours, and amazing classes. Among her remaining classes were History of Magic and Muggle Studies, but the ones she'd had on her first day turned out to be the most important ones. She grew a bit of a knack for Transfiguration and Defense Against the Dark Arts, was doing miserably in Potions, not great in Herbology, and quite brilliantly in Charms, which was definitely her favourite.

"You two girls are some of the brightest I've ever seen," Flitwick gushed that Thursday after they'd successfully cheered up the whole classroom and even dried up a few drops of water using the Drought Charm. Hermione pretended to be glad to share her talents with Ellie, but Ellie could tell she was a bit jealous.

"He thinks I'm bright," Ellie said to her that day, trying to sort things out. She added a laugh. "Guess I just have a knack for Charms, he should see me in my other classes… he'd take that right back…" She was having a bit of trouble. Hermione's mind was elsewhere.

"You okay?" Ellie asked as Flitwick released the class. Ellie gathered her books, not looking forward to the Potions class up next. The schedule-changing every day was proving to be hard to deal with.

Hermione nodded, looking a little distant. "Yeah. Sorry. I suppose I could be a better friend, couldn't I?"

Ellie hadn't ever really considered Hermione her friend, nor any of the girls, for that matter. Lavender and Parvati were only interested in Ellie when she was around guys, and Eloise still avoided her. Honestly, Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean were her only friends in her year. Considering Fred and George were her only other friends, she supposed she should probably try for some female ones.

"Don't try to change yourself for anyone," Ellie advised, trying to sound wise.

Hermione laughed. "I wouldn't go that far. I'm just saying, I can be so tactless, I reckon I focus too much on my studies—well, perhaps not too much, but I could split my attention anyhow."

Ellie smiled. "Maybe, maybe not. Doesn't really matter, I'm not judgmental."

Hermione looked grateful, and left the room in higher spirits as Ellie left to find Dean and Seamus.

"Hermione looked happy," Dean offered as they made their way to the dungeons. "Can't say I'm not—bloody Cheering Charm." He couldn't seem to wipe the smile off his face. "Hermione did mine. It's more outwardly than inwardly, though. I don't feel that different, just can't stop smiling…"

"I feel great!" Seamus practically chirped. Ellie was glad; she'd done his.

"So," Dean said, "plan to get us any more points lost?"

Ellie hadn't had Charms Tuesday or Wednesday, so this would be the second time she saw Snape. She'd had Charms Tuesday, which made her feel happy to say, "I've earned back the points I took, all from Flitwick."

"Good job!" Seamus offered delightedly.

Ellie and Dean exchanged looks as Ron and Harry approached them. "Hey," Ron greeted with a huge smile, "thanks for that charm, El!"

Ellie was starting to question her methods.

"Hermione did mine," Harry explained when she saw his not quite so cheerful expression. "It's surprising, you actually beat her at something, in a way."

"Well, if we both did well, Snape wouldn't know what to do with a class full of…" She shrugged. "Us."

"Right, but it would only be half a class—Ravenclaws have Herbology. We're with Slytherins again," Harry replied grimly. "I'm sure Malfoy will find some crack about our smiles."

Ellie, who had safely avoided Hermione's wand, pouted at the thought. Luckily Cheering Charms at their level only lasted twenty minutes or so. When they reached the dungeon, Snape was waiting; Ellie gave Harry and Ron a short smile and slipped into her seat with Dean and Seamus. One thing she liked about classes was that there were no assigned seats. She had a feeling it wasn't Snape's choice, though.

"Silence," Snape said calmly, and the class quieted. "Today's potion will be a very simple and rather pointless Babbling Beverage." He didn't stop to ask a question; he obviously knew Hermione was the only one with an answer anyway. "This potion causes the drinker to babble incoherent nonsense for a certain amount of time. Questions? No? Begin." He waved his wand at the blackboard, and directions appeared.

"Don't you love how carefully he works with us?" Dean muttered.

Seamus laughed. "Oh, don't be such a whiner," he said happily, and poured much too much sugar into his potion. Ellie stared at him.

"Seamus, sugar's not even in our ingredients!"

"I know, I conjured it. Figured it'd make the babbler a bit happier…"

All Ellie's other poor subjects of the charm seemed to be suffering the same problem. Eventually, when Ellie and Dean were about halfway done, Snape noticed.

"Why, Mr. Weasley," he demanded, "are you adding honey to your potion?"

Ellie blushed as he said, "Why, because I thought it'd make it happier, of course!"

Snape sighed. "All right, who cast Weasley's Cheering Charm?"

Everyone rather obviously turned to Ellie. She noticed that one of the Slytherins, a pudgy girl named Pansy, was sneering at Ellie, expecting her to be punished.

"Miss Bretherworth," he said, clearly enjoying her squirm at hearing her name. "Explain."

"We had Charms," she said quickly. "Professor Flitwick told me to."

He looked annoyed. "Can't punish you for that, can I? Unfortunate… well, I suppose Weasley will just have to receive failing marks, along with most of the other Gryffindors."

"But, sir," she insisted, "it's not their fault, they're out of it—"

"Complain," he interrupted, "to Professor Flitwick. Not me. Or perhaps you should've thought to reverse the charm before you performed it? Miss Granger's subjects don't seem quite as damaged."

This had been a _good _thing in Charms. Ellie sighed and, wanting to help her friends and rub it in Snape's face, pulled out her Charms book, which she still had from her last class. Sure enough, there was a reversal of the Cheering Charm: _Billis. _It was simply a downward swish of the wand, awkward but doable.

She cleared her throat and pointed her wand at Seamus. Before Snape had time to interject, she said loudly, "_Billis._" A few seconds later, Seamus shook his head, obviously clearing his thoughts. Everyone was waiting for the result; she shouldn't have attempted that spell.

"Phew," he finally said. "Don't have to act all touchy. Why'd I put so much sugar in this, anyway?" And he grabbed a spoon to take it out.

With Snape's grudging permission, Ellie performed the spell on everyone else who had been effected. By the end of class, even those whose potions were infected with honey and sugar scraped by on decent grades.

"I do not," Snape said loudly as the class was released, "plan to tolerate this chaos again. Clear? And Miss Bretherworth, I'd like to speak with you for a moment."

She glanced around to see Harry, Ron, Seamus, and Dean all waiting for her approval to leave. She knew they'd do the same for each other, but she was touched that they'd do it for her; she had a feeling this was where she could comfortably call them her friends. She smiled and waved, and they all took it as permission to leave.

Snape looked disgusted. "You're too young for that," he said bitterly.

She blinked at him. Was he really giving her advice on boys? She _was _too young for dating, of course, but not for having guys as friends! What did he play at?

"It was a dodgy thing to do," he continued, "that spell. I'll let you off because I suggested it. But I'll require an extra half hour in our detention—no, I did not forget, it stands this Sunday as soon as dinner lets out."

She was biting her cheek not to squirm; she hated being in such close proximity to him when he was looking at her with such loathing. Was it really because she was a Gryffindor, or something else? The only other person she'd seen him look at that way was Harry.

"All right, go," he said, but he kept his eyes on her. She crossed her arms for a second, furious, before darting out of the room. She slowed down when she reached the stairs, but she heard his footsteps: he was coming up, too. She groaned outwardly; she had no desire to see him again. She was considering skipping her detention and every Potions class for the rest of the year, her hatred for him was so foul. She didn't even know _why. _The same way he hated her by instinct, she hated him.

She found herself running much faster than she could've expected possible. She was actually confused, but didn't have time to analyze it, because she was enjoying her speed so much. She slowed to a stop when she reached the top of the stairs, panting, and set off across the hall. But she stopped only a few steps later, when she noticed two very important things.

For one thing, everyone was taller than her—_much _taller. And for another, they were all staring.

And for a third, she wasn't a human.

She didn't realize it until she looked down at herself and saw legs, and paws, and even fur. She tried to speak, and it came out in a high-pitched whine no one else even flinched at.

"Cute dog," someone said, kneeling to pet her. "Whose is it?"

"Probably a stray," someone else said. "Hogwarts is so lenient about strays—half the owls in the Owlery are probably runaways…" And then the girls got bored of her, and soon everyone else did, and she was free to panic.

She ran—rather, galloped—to the Gryffindor dorms, knowing that she wouldn't be able to get in as a dog and also knowing that if she was caught by a teacher, bad things could happen. She thought she spotted Mrs. Norris, but if so, the cat had ran scared.

She sat down at the doorway, eagerly waiting for someone to enter or leave, especially Fred or George. They were the only ones she really trusted with this… problem.

And what kind of witch changed into a dog, anyway? Then she thought back… McGonagall! McGonagall had turned into a cat. Surely if Ellie could talk to her about it, she would get things straightened out. But just as she turned to find the witch, she spotted Fred and George swinging the door open. She barked madly.

"Crazy dog," George muttered, but she didn't stop. She jumped on top of him and knocked him over, for the first time aware that she was fairly large. She noticed that she was some kind of shaggy retriever type, oddly all white, and thin but apparently weighty nonetheless.

She gave him a few licks on the face, sickening herself, to show that she was friendly; she got off him and let him stand back up. Then she turned to Fred and bit his shirt, pulling him along toward the doors outside.

"Er," Fred said, turning to George, "I think she wants us to follow her…"

"You assume it's a she?"

"I dunno, looks like a she… not really as vicious as I thought at first, guy dogs are more vicious, aren't they? Anyway, let's go, can't do any harm and I reckon Sprout will take 'attacked by a dog' as an excuse." He shrugged and let himself be pulled along down the hallway, followed by a confused George.

Finally she reached the door, which George pulled open, and took off toward the lake, noticing with relief that they were following quickly. Then she stopped on the sandy area.

She picked up a stick with her mouth and dragged it on the sand, forming the letters as best she could.

_E_-_L_-_L_-_I_-_E. _She practically collapsed with exhaustion, but lifted her head to see their reactions.

Fred was gaping; George was scratching his head in a quite unflattering manner. Finally Fred turned to the dog. "Ellie?"

She nodded eagerly, glad she had all her brains as a dog. Why couldn't she change back? She tried concentrating, but it didn't work.

"Bloody hell," Fred muttered. "Okay, here's what we're going to do. Library. Find a spell—"

She barked. She wanted to give the instructions here.

"I have a plan!" George announced. "Listen. We'll bark the alphabet, but easier. Bark the number I'd put on my hands, for the alphabet. Like, if the first letter's T, which is the…"

"Twentieth," Fred said with a grin.

"—twentieth letter, you'd bark twice and then shake your head. Clear?"

She nodded and barked twice, then shook her head. Fred scribbled a T in pen on his arm. Then she barked once, in which he put an A, then one, pause, one, in which he put a K. Eventually she spelled TAKE ME MCGON. XPLAIN.

"Okay," Fred said, and they ran back to the castle. "You know," he said as they slowed down in the hallways, "this means you're an Animagus. Which is, like…"

"Really rare," George said, "and unless your mum did it to you without saying, there's something you're not telling us. Because you're not born that way. And by the way, McGonagall's in class. Yours, I think."

Sure enough, when Fred and George knocked on the door, McGonagall answered with a very interested-looking swarm of Ellie's classmates.

"Mr. and Mr. Weasley," she said, "why have you come to interrupt my class?"

"Professor, this is seriously important," Fred said quickly. "Can we have a word?"

She sighed and closed the door behind her, heaving a sigh. "This better be good. And why do you have a dog?"

"Er, Professor," George said, rubbing Ellie's head uncertainly, "that's Ellie."

McGonagall's jaw literally dropped. She looked from Ellie to the twins and back again several times before saying, "Mr. Weasley, I assure you that if this is a joke—"

Ellie quickly barked and shook her head. She lifted a paw, then to prove she had a mind of her own, lifted the other to stand on her back legs. Then she sank back down and barked again.

McGonagall stared at her. "But—that's impossible—"

"If you could just transform her back, Professor, you'll see—"

"_Clemencia,_" she said with a wave of her wand, and Ellie felt herself rise steadily. She grabbed her body to make sure she was wearing clothes; she was. She sighed with relief.

"Thank you, Professor," she said quickly.

"How," McGonagall demanded shrilly, "did this happen?"

"I don't know!" Ellie said quickly. "I don't! Me and Snape—_Professor _Snape—were arguing, and when I left, I kind of ran to get out of the dungeons, and I just… changed!"

McGonagall continued staring at her fixedly. Finally she said, "I have a class to deal with. Dumbledore is away with the Ministry; he will be back on Sunday. I'm afraid he'll have to deal with you that night. I have no idea where to begin."

"Of course, Professor," Ellie said, relieved she wasn't being punished. "But I do have a detention Sunday…"

"Severus will understand," McGonagall muttered, and with a sweep of her cloak, she returned to her classroom, leaving Ellie alone with the dumbfounded Fred and George.

* * *

"It's odd that your shape was a dog," said Fred curiously as they made their way to the Quidditch pitch. Oliver had confirmed that Saturday for tryouts with Ellie, and she was on her way now. With a week of school down, more had happened to her than she could've possibly expected.

"Really? Why?" she asked, clutching her Cleansweep fondly. She was very comfortable today, on her first full weekend; she was out of uniform and robes, free to wear jeans and a t-shirt, and more importantly, she didn't have to worry about Snape scaring her into dog form.

"Well, we learned that Animagus forms usually take after Patronuses," explained George; Ellie knew Fred didn't know that much about anything. "So your Patronus must be a dog, but Patronuses reflect ourselves, and this being a compliment, you don't really seem like a dog."

She shrugged. "Maybe my mum's Patronus is a dog? Or my dad's?"

She spotted them exchanging a look, but she didn't have time to analyze it, because they had already reached the Quidditch field. Oliver was waiting with a few people cluttered around, but not everyone.

"There's some Seekers here," he explained, "but they're all ruddy awful, I don't know if I'll be able to accept any of them." He shook his head fervently; she found herself melting over his accent rather than listening.

"Mostly just Chasers," he continued, not really talking to anyone in particular. Then he noticed the twins. "Fred, George, you don't have to audition. I told you, you're the best Beaters I've seen."

"Figured we'd help," George explained. "A game isn't a game without Beaters."

Wood smiled pleasantly and glanced at Ellie's Cleansweep. "That's a decent broom you got there," he offered. "For a first-year especially."

"Thanks." She clutched it a little more tightly. After a bit of an awkward moment, three girls approached at about the same time, though they didn't seem to know each other.

"Katie," one of them greeted, sticking a hand out for Ellie. She didn't look older than twelve, but was very cute.

"Angelina," said another, in a much more snide voice. She was tall and dark, well-built, and could probably be thirteen or fourteen, about the same as the twins. She looked very confident.

"Alicia," said the third, and she was the only one Ellie openly disliked. She seemed snide and distant to Ellie, like being on the reserve team had been Ellie's fault somehow. She looked about Angelina's age.

"You don't have to worry about anyone else here," Angelina explained, though she somehow didn't seem as egotistical as Alicia. "I haven't seen you fly, though. You are?"

"Ellie," Ellie replied, glad they had introduced themselves in first names. "How many others?"

"None," Wood said, taking a few steps ahead of them. "Okay," he shouted, "this is it, no more!" He scowled and turned back to them. "I hate picking. Guess one of you will have to go to the reserves… sorry. At least you know you'll be part of the team."

Ellie swallowed rather uncomfortably. Did she stand a chance against the other girls?

"All right, I'm bored," Fred said, and hopped on his broom and took off. George followed.

"Seekers," Wood shouted. "I need two. Now, you stand there, you there. Fred, with him. George, with him. Angelina, you go with Fred, and Alicia, you with George. Er… Katie, you any good at Keeping?"

Katie shook her head. "Sorry, Oliver, I'm a mess."

He glanced at Ellie.

"Er," she said, "all right, I s'pose…"

He nodded and cocked his head in Fred's direction; Ellie raised her eyebrows and followed Angelina's path. "Guess I'm your Keeper," she said, and mounted. Oliver released all the balls, mounted his own broom, and kicked off; she followed suit.

She was saving from Alicia. She could already tell Angelina was better than Alicia, and something told her Katie would be, too. This meant the third Chaser would be between Alicia and Ellie, so if Ellie wanted it, she'd have to really block saves as Keeper…

She snapped her head back into reality when she spotted the Quaffle in the air, then being seized by Alicia herself. Ellie hovered in front of the middle ring, following Alicia's eyes… where was she headed? Left? Right? She was heading right, but Ellie had a feeling she'd try for the middle one as soon as she moved… So she moved. And then riveted back and spun around, the back of her room knocking the Quaffle safely to Angelina, who grinned and gave her a thumbs-up. Ellie stole a glance at Oliver, who looked impressed.

They played until Ellie's team had scored five points; the prospective Seekers were both disastrous. Alicia had gotten two Quaffles past Ellie, but she'd actually grabbed the ring and shoved them through, which Oliver didn't look too impressed with. Clearly Alicia had good talents, but Ellie could look at her and know exactly where she was headed.

They traded up after a short break, Ellie taking up Chaser against Katie, still on Fred's team and with a willing Angelina keeping their goal. Ellie didn't like the sound of having to score past Oliver, but Angelina had done it well, so she kept her fingers crossed.

"Those Bludgers are fierce," Fred remarked conversationally when they were in the air.

Ellie grinned. "Feel free to let the Seeker guy get hit," she said, nodding at the third-year whose eyes were darting around like a snake's in a very comical way. Fred grinned back and nodded, but Oliver whistled and Ellie snapped back to attention.

Katie, on her Nimbus, caught the Quaffle much faster than Ellie—but Ellie could tell Angelina was ready for her. Angelina caught it and threw it back to Ellie, who caught it gracefully and speedily made her way to the other side, being tailed at a distance by Katie. Oliver was ready for her, but not in the right way: He was expecting her to fake. So she headed right, and she could tell he prepared to swerve left; instead she tossed it in the right hoop at an angle, and it caught the edge but went through safely.

"All right," he said with a grin, and raised his arms as if surrendering. She grinned and righted her broom, knowing he'd be throwing it to Katie. But she managed to zoom up so fast that she caught it before it made its descent to Katie; once it was hers, she threw it so quickly at the middle goal that Oliver hadn't even spotted it coming.

She didn't manage to score five goals in the fifteen minutes allotted, but she scored three good ones, and Wood seemed impressed. Not only had she scored one more than Alicia had, but she'd done it against a much more able Keeper.

"All right, I'm really sorry, Alicia, but you'll be on reserve again," Oliver said. When he saw her scowl, he shrugged and said, "I know, but you did see Ellie, she's got talent. And Ellie, congratulations, new Chaser."

Alicia glared at Ellie and stalked off, but Ellie was welcomed to the team by Angelina and Katie with open arms. Fred and George were thrilled with the news, and on their way back to the common rooms, reviewed everything.

"You really were brilliant," Fred offered. "I didn't expect you to do half that well, with nerves and all."

"Thanks," she said. "But you have to admit, there wasn't much competition, one person."

"But she was good," George reminded her. "Don't doubt yourself, humble is out," he explained. "Now let's go get a coffee or something, house elves make excellent espresso."

Hope you liked! Please review!! I love reviews in case I haven't mentioned :D


	5. The Third Floor

Hi guys, sorry that one took so long. I'm glad to have 2 reviewers now!! Much love. Here's the new chappy.

**Chapter 5: The Third Floor**

Ringo came with Ellie's first letter at Sunday breakfast. It turned out to be from Mrs. Weasley, congratulating her for making the Quidditch team. Fred and George laughed about it, but considering Ellie hadn't gotten a letter from her mother all summer, she found it touching.

Everyone was excited for her. Lavender, Parvati, and even Neville Longbottom had already asked her for tips about their first flying lesson, which would take place the next week. But today all she had to worry about was her meeting with Dumbledore.

"G flat or sharp?" Fred asked her cheerfully. She had joined him and George in their dorm room and was resting on Lee's bed while Fred and George strummed and drummed to their hearts' content.

"Flat," she replied, and tapped her finger impatiently. "So, I mean, do you think I'm in trouble?"

"I want G natural for the chord, right?" he asked, ignoring her question. She had a feeling it was because she'd been asking the same question all day long.

She groaned and popped a training CD into their stereo—at least, their magic stereo; she wasn't quite sure how it worked. Fred listened carefully to the demo, and Ellie waited with limited patience until he got the chord right. Then she asked again.

Fred looked uncomfortable, and George looked annoyed. "Ellie," sighed George, "you know what they're going to do. Stop avoiding it. They'll ask your mum."

"She doesn't know!" Ellie insisted. "She would've told—"

Fred set down her guitar and looked at her calmly. "It could've been your dad," he reminded her, "or it could've been a secret, and I think I speak for both me and my dear twin when I say if you're going to mention it one more time, I'm going to have an aneurism."

She glared at him for about two seconds before cracking up.

They went to dinner a few hours later in a strange mood. Fred and George were humming and singing, jabbering to anyone who would listen about the wonders of Muggle music, and Ellie's heart was pounding as she looked at the teachers' table and saw Dumbledore, in all his glory, relaxed and eating heartily. What would he say when he found out? Did he already know?

She wondered if Snape knew. She'd had him three times this week, and the third lesson had been no better than the second. He wasn't looking at her now, but she still felt that haunting familiarity when she saw him.

Finally dinner was finished. She didn't know the password; McGonagall had asked her to stay in the Great Hall late. She waved goodbye to Fred and George, was wished luck by Harry and Ron (who thought she was here for detention), and was given confused looks by everyone else, who she hadn't bothered explaining.

She saw when she went to the professors' table that Snape wasn't happy with the arrangement. Glad she was able to miss his detention, and avoiding his glance, she stepped up to Professor McGonagall.

"Professor?" she asked uncertainly. McGonagall nodded to Dumbledore, who smiled politely at Ellie.

"Miss Bretherworth," he said, "follow me, if you will." And without another word and simply a swish of his robes, he was walking out of the Hall. Ellie followed uneasily. They made their way through the hectic staircases and to his office, where he said cheerfully, "Toffee pops," and it opened.

She sat down when he offered her a chair. She bit her nails as he took his seat and sat down, looking perfectly calm. A few seconds later, McGonagall came in.

"Albus," she greeted, "Elena."

Ellie wrinkled her nose. "Er, if you don't mind, I prefer Ellie," she said. Neither of them took much heed.

"You know why you are here," Dumbledore said to her, turning to face her. "You came to Professor McGonagall as a dog and had two of your friends request that she transform you back. This means you are either some kind of Animagus or you were under a very good spell. Which is it?"

"Unless someone did it without me knowing, it wasn't a spell," she said. "Sir."

He nodded. "Has it happened since?"

She shook her head.

"Have you tried?"

She shook her head again.

He folded his hands in his lap and sat silent for a moment. Then, quietly, he asked, "I would like you to try again, here, so I can see whether it was a spell or not."

Ellie blinked. _That _wasn't what she had expected, but she smiled vaguely and nodded. She squeezed her eyes shut and focused, focused on running and changing and being a dog the same way she had.

Nothing happened.

"Perhaps it was a prank?" McGonagall suggested.

They were interrupted by a door opening. "You asked for me?" Snape asked from the doorway. In a split second, Ellie had fallen from her chair and changed into a dog. Her urge to get away from him must have been that severe. Luckily he hadn't seen her transform—he just blinked at Ellie and asked, "Is that a human?"

Ellie breathed a sigh of relief as Dumbledore said, "A stray." This wasn't completely untrue; he hadn't denied her humanity. "Severus, I would like you to tell me everything you know about Ellie's father."

"Ellie?" he repeated disgustedly. Apparently she was the only Ellie he taught. She wasn't too surprised. Snape gave a glance at the dog before saying, "Well, you know how I feel about him, Albus. Troublemaker from the beginning—just as bad as his friends—cocky—destined for the punishment he received."

Ellie growled. McGonagall gave her a look.

"Yes, I am well aware of these opinions," Dumbledore said calmly. "I meant, tell me all you know about how he was as a father."

Snape looked annoyed. "You know I had already graduated—my life… _changed _then. But I know Serena couldn't raise her. Still a seventh year, and even if she wasn't, she couldn't handle a child. Not that _he _could."

"Yes, I know the story. But surely you saw him sometimes, in the presence of the Dark Lord? Or was he not—"

"Not a Death Eater," Snape growled as though he was unworthy of the title. "Just a cowardly traitor… why do you ask?"

"I was wondering if perhaps he cast any spells on Ellie. Protection? Disguise? Do you know?"

"Probably both. He was protective of her, I think—no doubt because she had his blood. She was supposedly with him during the incident that led to his arrest; you'd expect she was hurt, or at least taken by someone who worried in seeing a baby alone. But she wasn't found for days." He still seemed agitated, and not at all sad upon hearing Ellie's miserable life story.

"You think she had a protection spell to keep her from being hurt?"

"Or a disguise spell to keep her from being found."

Dumbledore nodded. "And what would he have chosen for disguise?" She was glad he was being discreet—if she could learn to control the dog changing, she could use it to her advantage, and didn't want to be caught constantly by Snape.

"Face altering? Shapeshifting? I wouldn't put anything past him. I was convinced for a while he was an Animagus, but I think I was wrong…" He glanced at the Ellie-dog again. "That isn't—?"

Dumbledore looked uncomfortable with lying. "This is a dog," he said, again not really lying. "I've been thinking about adopting one—what do you think?"

"Not to my taste," Snape said almost humorously. "Shall I leave, then?"

Ellie jumped off the chair and chased her tail to appear less humanlike. She even started licking herself until she remembered that was more cat-oriented.

"Did Serena ever speak of long-lasting protection spells?" Dumbledore asked when Snape started to move.

"To me, no—why would she?" Snape asked. "But she did mention the Perelli charm to her father, in front of me, when he was alive. When she was a child. Though I don't know how _he _could've managed—"

"Perelli?" McGonagall repeated, speaking for the first time. "How interesting. I wonder what her means of shielding would be?"

Snape gave a snort. "Probably whenever she's troublemaking," he muttered.

"That will be all, Severus," Dumbledore said, and Snape bowed his head and turned to leave. "And," Dumbledore added, "might I remind you that we do not encourage prejudice, to the same extent that we do not encourage favoritism?"

Snape nodded bitterly. "No, of course." With a sweep of his cloak, he exited, and Ellie, as if taking the first gasp of air she'd taken, transformed back. She fell onto the ground and breathed very quickly.

Dumbledore looked amused. "Perhaps it will take time to get used to."

She swallowed a bit of air. "Yes… sir, what's a Perelli charm? And how did Snape—"

"_Professor _Snape," McGonagall and Dumbledore both corrected.

"—know my parents? And my… grandfather? I never even met him. And why did he say my dad was a troublemaker? Did they go to—?"

"The Perelli charm," he said calmly, "is a very powerful protection spell that a parent must cast on a child, and must contain huge amounts of affection and friendship—your mother, for instance, could not perform the spell on you when Voldemort rose to power. It was your father who properly cast it. It has only been properly done one other time, and it was… incredible."

"It is a shield," McGonagall explained, "that activates only at certain times—when the shielded person is doing the thing he or she loves most. If made properly, it makes the person invincible."

Ellie wasn't sure how to react to any of this. "Well, I don't really know what my thing would be. You know, that I love the most."

"At some point," said Dumbledore, "and probably some point soon, your shield will activate, and you will realize what that something is. Until then, do not worry—you are at Hogwarts and you are safe."

* * *

Flying lessons the next week were a lot of fun for Ellie, the only person in the class who was on the Quidditch team. Madam Hooch seemed quickly fond of her.

"All right, everyone, stand on the left side of your brooms," she said when the class got to order. "Nice Cleansweep, Elena… is that the latest model?... now, on the count of three, I want you all to say "Up!" and your broomstick will rise into your hands for you to catch. Elena, would you like to demonstrate?"

Flushing a bit, she nodded. "Uh, I prefer Ellie," she muttered, then held her hand and said "Up!" Her broom flew gracefully into her hand.

People grinned in awe at her, which made her feel extremely uncomfortable—the only one who didn't was Draco, who gave her a slightly evil glare.

"All right," Madam Hooch said, "flying will be very limited today, but since you have already flown, Ellie, you can go ahead and patrol everyone. Okay?"

Ellie nodded happily and kicked into the air. She hadn't had Quidditch practice yet for the team, but she was used to flying. Ron was, too, but Madam Hooch didn't know it. She watched in amusement as they attempted to get their brooms to lift up, until finally they began to levitate and touch back down. Neville, however, didn't stop; he flew a little higher than he should've.

"Ellie!" barked Madam Hooch. Ellie bit her lip and zoomed after Neville, who by now was already going much too fast. She followed him, but he kept switching directions; she had a feeling she wouldn't like to be a Seeker. "Neville," she shouted, "just pull back and sit still!"

It was no use. He just kept gathering speed and flipping around, until finally he jerked backwards and slipped off. Ellie gasped as he banged into an outskirt of the castle; she zoomed over and grabbed him before he could do any more damage to himself. When she had gotten him to the ground, Madam Hooch ran over to them.

"Is he okay?" she asked, feeling his arms and legs. He squealed a little when she bent his elbow.

"He'd already hit that gargoyle thing when I got him," Ellie explained nervously. "Sorry."

"Fine, fine," Madam Hooch assured her, "nothing more you could've done… Well, Longbottom, come with me to the hospital wing. No flying, everyone, I can have you expelled in a heartbeat! That includes you, Ellie, for safety measures… I'll be back shortly."

She dragged Neville back to her castle, and Ellie turned to face the others.

"Nice job," Draco sneered, "you were really her favourite for about five minutes."

"Drop it, Malfoy," said Harry, and Ellie felt a bit taken aback. She knew Harry was picking a fight, not just defending her because he liked her, but she liked being friends with him at any rate. "You can't be everyone's favourite student."

"Jealous?"

Ellie snorted. "Why, because you're _Snape's _favourite? Yeah, I always wanted to learn how to not be hygienic. Oh, and to be a miserable git."

Draco glared at her, then saw a spot on the ground and smirked. He snatched up a glowing glass ball that seemed to be fading red. "Huh, Longbottom's lost his Remembrall," he said happily, as if this somehow resolved his losing battle with Ellie and Harry. "Shame."

"Give it here, Malfoy," Harry said quickly, taking a step closer. Ron looked petrified; Hermione looked annoyed. Ellie couldn't help but be a bit excited.

"No, I think I won't," Draco said rather stupidly. "Neville needs a better place for his things—how bout up a tree?" He smirked and kicked into the air without further warning.

Harry grabbed his broom, but Ellie stopped him. "It's not worth it," she assured him. Hermione quickly nodded in agreement.

"You go, El, you'll have him in a heartbeat!" Ron urged, but Ellie shook her head. There was no way she would risk being expelled, especially because of Draco.

Unfortunately Harry didn't listen—he just zoomed after Draco into the air. It was almost a shock to see how fast he was—faster than Ellie had been on her Cleansweep, and he was on a school broom. He darted so fast to Draco that Draco looked scared and threw the ball in the opposite direction. Ellie was sure it was too far, but Harry spun around and, amazingly, caught the ball.

She whooped appreciatively with the rest of the crowd, and when Harry touched back down (along with a furious-looking Draco), ran over to him. "I didn't know you could fly like that! You should've tried out for Seeker when I went!"

He shrugged. "I've never flown before, I didn't know."

"Well, Oliver's still—" But she was interrupted by the figure of McGonagall, striding importantly over to them across the field. She gave the children a confused look, wondering where their professor was, before turning to Harry. Everyone immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Potter," she said, "come with me." She glanced around and saw Ellie. "You, too, Breth—"

Ellie cleared her throat.

"—Ellie," McGonagall corrected, looking amused. "Follow me." She turned and strode back, followed by a very nervous Harry. Ellie turned to give Ron, Dean, and Seamus a confused look, which was immediately returned. What had Ellie done?

They made a stop at Quirrel's room, which was even more confusing, until McGonagall spoke.

"May I borrow Wood for a moment?"

Harry looked horrified, and Ellie laughed softly. "He's the Quidditch captain," she whispered. "Oliver Wood." She felt herself melt a tiny bit all over again as the tall, well-built Oliver strode up to them, looking from Ellie to McGonagall to Harry.

"Wood," McGonagall said with a wide smile, "I have found you a Seeker."

Ellie squealed, which drew attention from the class inside. She blushed as McGonagall pulled the three of them aside. Oliver looked excited. "Really? Who're you?" he asked Harry.

"He's Harry Potter," she explained. Oliver's eyes widened.

"I think he'll do excellently," McGonagall said. "Now, I've taken you out of class—if you want to spend the rest of the period training him up, that should be fine. Ellie, you can stay and help him, too."

Ellie squealed again, and both of the boys grimaced. She couldn't help but be excited—now she wasn't the only first year on the team! And more importantly, Harry was going to be the most important player there was. She followed closely behind them until they reached the real Quidditch field, which was empty. Oliver explained everything to Harry before turning him loose; they played a three-player game which was rather awkward but fun, and then were said goodbye to by a very enthusiastic Oliver.

"You'll be great, Harry," Oliver assured Harry, who looked thrilled. Ellie smiled as she walked back to class with him.

* * *

Everyone talked a lot more about Harry making Seeker than Ellie making Chaser, but she understood. It was enough for the position alone, a much more important position, but furthermore, it was Harry Potter, the one and only. She didn't mind his being a celebrity, but she could tell it would start to get on Ron's nerves.

She sat in the common room that evening with Fred and George, working on some homework and not really paying attention to it, as George tried out his Spell Check Quills and Fred once again played guitar.

"When are we going to have a concert?" Fred asked conversationally.

Ellie laughed. "When we start sounding good."

"We're never getting anywhere, then," said George jokingly, not looking up from his homework. As a girl passed by obsessing over Harry being Seeker to a friend, he glared at her.

"Oi," Fred said for his brother, "there's another first year player, too!"

Ellie felt herself turning crimson as the girl, Penelope Clearwater, mumbled something ashamedly. Fred and George smirked.

A few minutes later, the subject of all the gossip came in with Ron. On Harry's other side was a very mad-looking Hermione.

"—and anyway, you _can't _be serious, it's going to be _awful, _and breaking a _thousand _rules—"

"But it'll be bloody brilliant!" Ron insisted, sitting down at a table near Ellie, Fred, and George. "Harry, you have to do it, you don't want Malfoy to think you're a prat anyway."

Harry looked uncertain. "I think Ron's right, Hermione," he said carefully.

Ellie glanced at the twins before getting up and sitting at Harry's table. "What's Draco done now?" she asked, not resorting to last names. She figured if anyone referred to her by her last name, she'd have their head, so why not the other way around?

"He wants a duel," Ron explained, before being elbowed severely by Harry. "Tonight."

Ellie glanced at Harry, not that offended that he wasn't planning on telling her. "Oh? And will you?"

"I think so," he replied, avoiding Hermione's harsh stare. "Can't say no, can I? It'll be all over the school that I'm some kind of…"

"Pansy?" Ellie laughed. "I don't know, you already got him once today with the Remembrall. If you said no, it'd probably be all right." She grinned. "If you say yes, can I come?"

"Yeah, us too," Fred and George said, jumping up and going over to them.

"Guys, six people can't come," Harry said. "I'm supposed to go _without _being seen. Remember?"

"It'd be five," Hermione said stiffly, "I'm _not _getting in trouble for you." And with a huff, she pranced away with her head held high.

"Fred, George," Harry said, "you're just a bit… tall."

Fred didn't look discouraged. "You'll need us, Harry," he explained. "We're always your bodyguards. Beaters on the field, people-who-come-with-you-for-illegal-duels off the field."

"And," Ellie added, "you need me, because, er, I have excellent hearing."

Ron and Harry raised their eyebrows.

She nodded eagerly. "Yeah, see, I have this excellent hearing, so if there are any teachers coming, or even Mrs. Norris, I'll be able to know and tell you and we can run. Plus, the bigger group, the less the punishment."

"Don't know that's true," George said ruefully, "not with Filch in charge."

But Harry looked excited with the backup. "Okay, guys," he said, "tonight. Outside the common room."

* * *

Hermione was there, too, that night. She was standing outside the Fat Lady portrait with her arms crossed. Once Ron, Harry, Ellie, Fred, and George had all gathered outside, she spoke.

"I just came to tell you it's a nasty plan and remind you they could expel you for this."

"All right, Hermione," Fred said easily, "thanks so much for that. Because nothing else we do would ever get us expelled if caught."

She glared at him and let out a _hmph _before turning back to the Fat Lady. "Gingivitis," she said bitterly.

The Fat Lady glared at her. "That is correct," she said, sounding pleased with her own choice of Muggle disease, "but you six are going to have to have a warning. Before returning to the common room after hours, you'll have to see your Head of House."

Hermione's eyes widened. "But—"

"Rules," the Fat Lady interrupted, "are rules."

Hermione spun around and glared at them, looking murderous. "Now look what you've done!" she nearly shouted. "How am I supposed to get back?"

"Guess you'll just have to come," Ron said with a shrug, and Harry led the way into the hall, lighting his wand with a hesitant _Lumos._ They crept down the hallway, ignoring the portraits' complaints, until they reached the staircase above the Great Hall—the place for the duel. Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.

Hermione sighed. "Okay, he chickened out. Can we go now?"

Harry glanced at Ron. "What time is it?"

"Past midnight," said Ron. "Malfoy doesn't seem to be the late type…"

"Come on," Hermione insisted.

Ellie glanced at Fred and George, who didn't look at all perplexed. She could tell troublemaking was perfectly natural to them. "What are the chances we get caught?" she asked. "I mean, should we take a different way back?"

They glanced at each other and whispered something. Then Fred said, "Come with me." He pulled Ellie aside, then George followed and pulled out a map. He tapped it once, said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," and pointed. The parchment spread with ink that displayed a map of the castle with dots and names.

"Here's us," he said, pointing to the clump of six. "So Filch is…" His eyebrows shot up. "Right behind us!" And without further warning, he took off up the stairs. Ellie and Fred followed, and Hermione, Ron, and Harry did a few seconds later. Ellie ran and ran, just praying she wouldn't get any more points taken away from her House or any more serious trouble, until George stopped uncertainly.

"Where are we?" Harry whispered.

Fred nodded in admiration for his brother. "Nice one. You took us to the third floor. I've been meaning to check it out…" He glanced at a rather gruesome statue. "Huh."

"Mrs. Norris should be along any minute," George said with a glance at the map and confused looks from the other three. "We ought to find a room… Well, run!" And he darted off again, and everyone else followed with very short, aggravated breaths.

They reached a door, but it was locked. Ron scowled and Harry practically yelled, but Hermione sighed exasperatedly and shoved him out of the way. "_Alohomora,_" she said calmly, and the lock gave way. Harry and Ron's eyes widened and they stood there for a second, so Ellie pushed past them into the room.

Once they were inside, Harry heaved the door closed and they stood to catch their breaths. Somehow it was almost a minute before they all realized what they were looking at: A monster. And not just any monster, but a huge, drooling one with three heads.

"Bloody hell!" Ellie shouted; Fred and George's remarks were similar. Hermione, Harry, and Ron all screamed. Ron grabbed the door handle. "D'you think they're gone?"

"I'd rather face Filch than _that_!" Hermione shrieked, and yanked the door open. Luckily neither the cat or the caretaker were anywhere to be seen. They ran the whole way back to the common room, and luckily the Fat Lady assumed they had been speaking to McGonagall, so she let them in. Once they were safely inside, they collapsed, Ellie and the twins on the couch and Hermione, Ron, and Harry on a nearby table.

"What _was_ that?" Ron demanded.

"A three-headed jumbo-sized dog," Ellie said, "from the looks of it… What could Hogwarts want a fanged, drooling monster like that for?"

"To guard something," Hermione said quietly.

"What?" said Ron.

"To guard something," she repeated. "Am I the only one who noticed it was standing over something? A trapdoor, I think. Something important must be down there. Something…" She glanced at Harry. "_Very _important."

He frowned, obviously knowing something Ellie didn't. "I think you're right," he said.

"Should we tell them?" asked Ron.

"Tell us what?" Fred asked quickly. But Harry was giving him a panicked, quick shake of the head, and Ron's mouth thinned.

They split up with a lot of things unsaid.

**-END-**

Alright, that's it for this chapter! Next one's called "This Is Halloween" and it's obviously about Halloween... so please stay tuned! or whatever. That was kind of lame. Oh and here's a nice deal... aka an attempt for me to get more reviews...

**If I get 4 reviews (or more if you like) for this chap, I'll update right away!!**

I noticed I get alot of consistent hits so it would mean a lot if you guys reviewed too. I love praise! Doesn't everyone?

Anyway, thanks, and look for the next chapter soon!


	6. This Is Halloween

Hey thanks to those who reviewed, and here's the next chapter!

**Chapter 6: This is Halloween**

The next few weeks were much worse than the first, thrilling few weeks Ellie had lived. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were clearly avoiding her; every time she even approached their table, they bowed their heads and spoke only to each other. She understood they were hiding something from her, but she wished it wouldn't actually interfere with their friendship; she now spent all her class time with Seamus and Dean.

"Don't know why you're so mopey about it," Dean said in a Charms class one day. "We're better than them anyway! Not as famous, of course, but still."

She had to smile, but there was something about Dean and Seamus that lacked originality. Harry was the most honest, true, _real _person she'd ever met. Ron had a loyalty that lied behind his jokes, and Hermione was brilliant and could actually have interesting conversations when she let her guard down. They didn't have anything on Fred and George, who Ellie loved, but they had been great friends. Dean and Seamus felt strangely little in comparison; all they had was jokes, and admittedly, some good looks.

"Today," Flitwick announced, "we will be performing the _Wingardium Leviosa _spell we have been studying. Now, it is a levitation spell, quite advanced, but you have been in class for a month already, and some of you have excelled beautifully so far… that said, you will say the charm with a swish and flick of your wand. Point directly at the object, yours being a feather. Questions?"

Everyone shook their heads, so he signaled for them to begin. Ellie did so eagerly. Being in a bit of a row with Hermione, she enjoyed Charms. She wasn't talented in many of her other classes, but she could still beat Hermione at Charms when she needed to. She cleared her throat, pulled out her wand, and tried it. "_Wingardium Leviosa,_" she said with a careful swish and flick. Her feather shakily hovered for a second, then fell back down.

"Well done, Miss Bretherworth—Ellie, excuse me—but try a longer hesitation between your swish and flick."

Ellie nodded and stole a glance at Hermione, who was too busy snapping at Ron to try it herself. Ellie took the time to her advantage and tried again, this time with the hesitation. Her feather flew gracefully into the air and followed the trail of her wand wherever she pointed. She tickled Seamus's nose for a few moments before Flitwick burst into applause. Hermione spun around and, when she saw Ellie, looked disappointed.

Hermione got it next, and a few others in a less graceful way. Seamus managed to blow up his own feather, and Dean, refusing help from Ellie, could only muster a jerky launch followed by his feather splitting in two. Neville, who asked nervously for Ellie's help (he'd been nervous around her since she caught him during the flying lesson), managed to send his up a few feet.

"All right, everyone, good class, and we'll resume this next lesson… Halloween's coming up, and I know you're excited, but don't abandon your studies!"

Ellie packed up and headed to the Quidditch field, meeting up with Fred and George on the way. They were going into their fourth practice, and while they were good, they needed more training. The Gryffindor-Slytherin game was just over a month away, and none of them felt completely confident.

Oliver was surprisingly nice when they got onto the field. "All right, everyone," he said, "let's take it easy today. We'll have some split practice—Chasers, you up first, I'll try and block you—Harry, go on the other side and try and catch the Snitch; Fred, you guard Harry; George, come over here and watch the Chasers."

It was a lot of fun. Ellie worked well with Katie and Angelina, both of whom passed to her often, and she seemed to have Oliver's defenses covered. He did well Keeping, but she managed to score a few past him, and Angelina and Katie got some of their own. George saved Ellie from a very close call with a Bludger, and she spotted Harry just dodging one of his own. When the practice was over, Oliver was very complimentary.

"Well done, everyone!" he said. "Next practice is in three days, and the Halloween feast will be just after the one after that, so it'll have a light one… So I'll see you Friday, then. Off you go."

Everyone left, but to Ellie's surprise, Oliver shouted, "Ellie, can I talk to you for a second?"

Fred and George shrugged and waved as she turned back and made her way to him, a bit confused. "Yeah, hey," she said awkwardly. She was getting used to him, but he was still a very good-looking, very intimidating fifth year.

"I noticed you and Harry haven't seemed as close lately," he said, not sounding too worried but not exactly pleased. "It's not too important, relationship between Chaser and Seeker, but I do want to make sure there aren't any rows within the team."

She quickly shook her head. "No," she assured him, "we're fine. It's kind of just… secret stuff." She felt annoyingly aware of her age. "I mean, y'know, he knows things he's not telling me, so he's kind of avoiding me, but we're not mad at each other."

Oliver laughed. "Sounds complicated. But doesn't sound too bad, so that's all right. Just make sure not to pick fights with anyone on the team. You and the twins seem close."

She nodded. "They're great," she said. "Like my brothers." She felt a little guilty for saying that, since it was mostly just to imply she was single (as if she had a chance with Oliver), but it was also true; she didn't feel anything strong for either of the twins. There were certain moments with Fred, like sitting together in the middle of the night and talking, that just got to her. But he was her best friend.

Oliver nodded easily. "So d'you want to have dinner with me?" he asked. "The other fifth-years can be a lot of fun, that is—except Percy." He frowned. "Are you friends with all the Weasleys?"

She laughed. "None of the Weasleys are friends with Percy," she explained, trying to recover from the shock of being invited to dinner with him. Usually she sat with Fred and George, but they'd understand; they had Lee anyway. "Sure, I'll come," she said, and followed him back toward the castle.

* * *

Things with Oliver were much more awkward than with her other guy friends, but she wasn't really surprised. It wasn't awful; they just seemed to strain a lot more on coming up with topics. By the time they reached his spot at the Gryffindor table, though, other teenagers were talking to them, and Ellie relaxed.

She noticed while eating that a lot of people were staring at her. It was rare enough for a first year to be hanging out with a fifth year, but more importantly, it was beyond weird for Ellie to be spending dinner with Oliver Wood. He and his friends, however, seemed oblivious to it.

"You don't look like a first year," one of them said cheerfully. "Second or third, I think. You weren't held back or anything?"

Ellie laughed. "No," she said. She got that a lot—she was good-looking, though not really beautiful, but people thought she was older because of her dark features. She had to admit, she didn't think she looked eleven either—though she'd be turning twelve soon. Halloween was her birthday.

"Huh." The girl pouted.

Oliver grinned and said something to the boy next to him, who laughed. Everyone around them looked jealous. Ellie couldn't believe how _cool _they seemed.

"So," she said uncertainly, "uh, what's different about the years?"

"Divination," he offered. "Care of Magical Creatures. More choices. OWLs this year, and after that I'll get to drop a lot. I'm not sure what I want to be—professional Quidditch player, if I'm lucky."

"You're the Hogwarts captain," she reminded him. "You should be able to."

"Oliver has a complex," explained the first girl, who had introduced herself as Melinda. "He thinks he'll never get onto any teams and he should have a backup career as a janitor at the Ministry."

"Hey! They're not janitors!"

"Whatever you want to call them," said the boy next to him.

"There's got to be loads of interesting jobs, though," she said, "like… magical ones? They're not all at the Ministry?"

"Not as many jobs as you'd think," said Melinda. "At least, not out of the Ministry. Other than that, you can work at a private store, work with magical creatures, work for Gringotts, or teach at Hogwarts. Or maybe get hired at a different school. _I _think I'll be working for Ollivander—someone has to catch those unicorns for the hair, eh?"

Ellie laughed. "That'd be something to see."

"They have 'em in the forest," Oliver said, looking surprised. "You've never seen one?"

She shook her head. "No—I thought she was joking! Ron got a unicorn hair wand, but I didn't realize they actually _meant _unicorn—"

He didn't miss a beat. "I'll have to show you one sometime," he said. "Care of Magical Creatures professor's old as hell, but doesn't mind showing us things."

A few of the girls at the table exchanged looks. Obviously they had noticed, as Ellie had, that it was some kind of form of a date.

"Yeah," Ellie managed, feeling like her face was on fire, "that'd be cool."

Oliver, being laid-back and the complete opposite of an awkward person, grinned and turned back to his funny conversation with the guy next to him, leaving Ellie to stare at her fingernails.

* * *

She didn't talk to Oliver except at Quidditch for a week or so, but he was clearly still flirting with her from time to time. Besides being teased by Fred and George, no one really mentioned it. She got more stares in the hallway, but she could deal with that. She was still being avoided by Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and with everything that happened, she didn't really tell anyone her birthday was on Halloween.

It happened anyway, something very surprising. She woke up being tickled by a feather, and when she opened her eyes, she saw that it was floating there. She shrieked and sat up to find Ron, laughing and flicking at the feather with his wand.

"I did it!" he said happily. "_Wingardium Leviosa_!"

She laughed, and the girls around her rose, too. Hermione was up, but Lavender, Parvati, and Eloise all shrieked the same way she had, but for a different reason.

"Ron!" Parvati barked, even though she didn't really know him. "Boys aren't allowed here! How did you even _get_ here? It turns into a slide…"

He grinned and held up a broomstick. A few seconds later, Fred and George toppled into the room, followed by Harry, then Dean and Seamus. Girls around them were shrieking everywhere, but no one outwardly complained except Lavender, who was wearing a sports bra and shorts. She ran off to the changing room.

Ellie, who was in a baggy band t-shirt and boxers, got up. "What's with the parade?" she asked. And, bluntly, she added, "And why are you three talking to me now?"

"Figured you'd have a break from the cold shoulder on your birthday," explained Ron.

"Yeah, thanks for telling us, by the way," Fred added.

She shrugged. "Didn't really think about it. How'd you know?"

"Mum, who else?" George asked easily. "She wrote a letter for you weeks ago, and we found out your birthday's on Halloween. Cursed much?"

She threw her pillow at him before her eyes reached the presents pile at the foot of her bed. It was huge. "Bloody hell," she managed.

"Mine's on top," said Dean. "Seamus was too cheap to buy you one. And your boyfriend put one there too."

She glanced at Fred and George, assuming he meant one of them, then realized he meant Oliver. "Really? Give it here, then." She caught it and opened it, revealing a book on Chasing.

Fred yawned. "Boring."

She glared playfully at him before setting it aside on her nightstand. It wasn't the most exciting present, but it had been thoughtful. She opened Dean's next, a surprisingly nice silver armband-bracelet whose beads moved by charm. Ron had gotten her a Chudley Cannons baseball cap, explaining that she needed a team to support, and Hermione gave her Sugar Quills from Diagon Alley. Lavender and Parvati had split a present, a pretty set of earrings that grew and shrunk. Fred and George's presents were by far the best.

From George was a spellbook on musical bands, complete with a magic lock to put on her guitar that amplified the sound more than any amp she had ever found. From Fred was something even better, a beautiful silver locket that seemed far out of his budget. Instead of pictures of them, she opened it to find a strange, liquid-looking black substance. He grinned and showed her a ring on his hand.

"Communication jewelry," he explained. "When I think of you, yours glows. Vice versa. We can send each other messages, too."

She didn't think she had ever been happier. Her presents were wonderful, though she noticed with a sinking feeling that her mother had sent her a very boring book on horses that had Muggle-style pictures. She hadn't gotten any card. But she shoved it under her pile of good presents and headed off to breakfast with the people she loved. That was all that mattered.

_Mum—_

_I don't know if they told you, but I randomly changed into a dog the other day. They think it might be because of a disguise spell Dad put on me. Do you know anything about it? I'm not complaining, but it's a bit strange that I'm an Animagus without having done anything about it._

_Thanks for the book. I was a little disappointed you didn't send a card. Have you noticed you haven't written me since I came here? And am I coming home this summer, by the way? Please write back._

_  
Ellie_

_  
_She had breakfast with Oliver, thanking him for the present and receiving applause for her birthday. She spent the entire rest of the day with Fred and George, who were astonishingly nice to her. They went out of their ways to take her to all her classes, and even warned Snape that it was her birthday and he better be nice to her (_nice _was stretching it, but he was vaguely polite).

About an hour before dinner, Oliver caught her in the common room and brought her out to Hagrid's hut. "Our professor wouldn't do it, but Hagrid said he would," he explained.

Hagrid opened the door and beamed at Ellie. "I know yeh!" he said. "Yer from the owl place!"

She grinned and nodded—that was the only way she knew him, too. "Yeah, that's me," she said. "I guess you know Harry, Ron, and Hermione, too?"

"Yeah, well." He frowned. "But they won' stop buggin' me 'bout the Philosopher's Stone—tell 'em ter lay off, would yeh?"

She raised her eyebrows. "The what?"

His face hardened. "Ooh. Shouldn't'a said that."

She glanced at Oliver, who didn't look like he knew what it meant but also didn't look entirely interested. "So," he said, "it's her birthday, and I wanted to let her see a unicorn."

Hagrid nodded quickly and stepped outside of his hut, eagerly leading them into the forest. "Don' worry, yeh're perfectly safe with me. This way."

The unicorn they found was beautiful, more than she could've expected—pure, raw, beautiful. Ellie was captivated, and he even let her pet the beast. She had a bit of a desire to ride it, but she could tell it wasn't something people did. Unicorns were much too powerful for human service.

She found Fred and George in the common room, and an annoyed looking Harry and Ron.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"Hermione," Harry explained. "You know we've been getting along well, and she heard some stupid thing Ron said and blew up."

"It was just the truth! I said she was mental! Isn't she?"

Fred laughed. "You don't say that in front of a girl, mate."

Ron look sour as Harry said, "Anyway, she didn't _blow up, _really, but she was miserable. Ran off crying. I thought I should talk to her, but I can't find her. She's actually missed her classes today."

Ellie sighed. "I'll find her," she said. "Save me a seat," she added to Fred and George, who nodded easily. She went downstairs with them, and turned to the girls' bathroom instead of heading for the Great Hall.

She heard someone crying in a stall, and she doubted there would be more than one miserable girl in a day. She knocked carefully on the door and said softly, "Hermione?"

There was a sniff. "Hi," mumbled Hermione from behind the door.

"Hi," Ellie replied. "Do you want to open the door and talk? I'm not going to make you go to the feast, but it sounds pretty delicious."

There was another sniff, and the door opened to a very red-faced Hermione. "Ellie, look, don't wait up for me," she insisted. "It's your birthday, don't ruin it because I'm—" she let out a sob "—a mental case!"

Ellie tried not to laugh. She understood Hermione's pain, but couldn't imagine taking it this seriously. If she'd caught Ron calling her mental behind her back, she'd catch up and say at least she wasn't a gangly loser with a pet rat. Or something even more awful.

"Look," she said, leading Hermione out by the sinks, "I know it was a stupid thing for Ron to do, talk about you like that." She bit her lip. "But you've got to understand, Ron's just immature. He didn't mean anything by it, Hermione. Everyone really likes you. He and Harry've told you things they don't trust me with."

Hermione wiped her eyes, looking guilty. "That's only because I helped figure it out."

"So, what, about the Philosopher's Stone?"

"Philosopher's Stone?" Hermione repeated, confused. "That sounds familiar…"

Ellie felt a pang of confusion. Hermione clearly didn't know what it was. "Yeah, Hagrid was talking about it," she said. "He said—"

Hermione let out a huge gasp, and for a second Ellie thought it was because she made some monumental discovery about the Stone. But then Ellie spun around to see that the gasp was for a completely different reason: There was a huge, disgusting troll making its way into the girls' bathroom.

Ellie let out a strangled yelp and grabbed Hermione's wrist, running into an empty corner of the room and wishing she knew what she loved most, because she had a feeling her dad's shield would come in handy about now. But nothing came to mind, and she was left to stare at it in panic.

The troll looked incredibly stupid. It was huge and green, with a small head and big body and a spiky, very intimidating club. Ellie had a feeling Fred and George could do a lot of damage as Beaters with that club.

"Ellie!" Hermione shouted. "What do we do?"

Ellie, panicking but trying to think straight, looked around. "Uh… Transfigure something? The sink into a shield?"

"I don't know how!" Hermione shouted.

"Uh…" Her mind flashed through what she'd learned. What had she learned? What could help her?

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" Hermione shouted, swishing and flicking her wand at the troll. For a second Ellie thought it would work, and Hermione would levitate his club off the ground, but it didn't work; the troll just seemed more agitated. Ellie tried it, and the club moved, but she couldn't control it.

"Good idea," Ellie said, "now how about a better one?"

"We could dart to the door," Hermione said, but she knew it was no go. The troll was between them and the door, and it was very unlikely that they'd make it out alive.

To Ellie's immense relief and further panic, she saw the two familiar red-haired twins she'd come to depend on run up to the room, wands drawn. Just beside them were Ron and Harry. All four of them looked terrified and, touchingly, worried. Ron shouted, "Hermione, El, you okay?"

Ellie and Hermione nodded weakly.

"Er… _Trachiato_!" Fred shouted, pointing his wand at one of the sinks. It pulled out of the wall and changed to a large metal shield. "Grab it!"

"Great minds think alike," Ellie muttered to Hermione, and held the shield up in front of them. But she hated being the girl who the guys had to come and save, and hiding behind a well-designed shield didn't do much for her ego. She looked around, desperate for something, but couldn't find anything. The troll, looking angered and cornered, began thrashing his club. In about three swipes, their shield split and broke.

Harry, probably in a bout of idiocracy, jumped onto the club and was hoisted painfully into the air. He landed around the troll's shoulders, scaring them all even further.

Nothing happened for several seconds, and finally the stupid troll realized what was happening and grabbed Harry. His club was positioned properly…

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!"

Fred, George, Ellie, Hermione, and Ron had all swished and flicked their wands, and the club was hovering unsteadily but out of the troll's grip.

"Careful," shouted Hermione, "we all have control and splitting it will break the club. We need it. Now everyone, left, swing at his head…"

They did so carefully, then forcefully plunged their wands through the air in the direction of the troll's head. The club hit it hard, and the troll, dazed, struggled before falling to the ground. Harry slid off with relief.

"Bloody hell," said Ron.

"That," Ellie said, "was pretty cool."

They all stared at the fallen troll for several seconds before the teachers came running in: first, McGonagall, then Snape, Quirrel, and a few of the other professors, along with Dumbledore, who was staring at the beast, looking impressed. But he stayed quiet; this was primarily McGonagall's duty, as they were all Gryffindors.

"Wh—I—explain yourselves!" McGonagall stammered, too confused to speak correctly.

Ellie glanced at Fred and George, who she knew had only come for the entertainment of it all, then at Harry and Ron, who had come probably in heroic efforts to save Ellie and Hermione. And Hermione had been here from the start. But Ellie knew Hermione as well as she knew everyone else, and she knew everyone would make up some kind of excuse, while the truth was perfectly acceptable. So she spoke.

"Well, Hermione was here first, er—she wanted some privacy. She didn't even hear about the troll, because she wasn't at the feast, you can ask any of the Gryffindors to verify it—and I came here just before the feast to try to calm her down and get her to join us."

Harry and Ron nodded eagerly. "And we came when we remembered where they were," Ron said, "because they hadn't heard and we didn't want them to get hurt."

Harry spoke next. "We didn't know the troll would be _here. _Quirrel said 'the dungeons.'"

"And you two?" McGonagall asked, glancing disapprovingly at Fred and George.

"Well, Professor," said Fred, "we were incredibly worried about our little first year friends. They're all we've got, y'know, and we wouldn't want one of them to be—"

"—blooded up by some big, evil troll," George finished, and smiled. "So really, El and Hermione are innocent bystanders, Harry and Ron are heroes, and we're…"

"Yes, thank you," McGonagall said with a bit of a cluck. "And how did you do this?"

Snape crossed his arms, looking particularly interested.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_," Ellie and Hermione said at the same time, and Flitwick beamed. "We charmed his club," explained Ellie. "Between all of us there was enough power."

"Because they were accidents," McGonagall said after a short pause, "I won't be taking away points, though I firmly suggest you stick with your classmates from now on. And I suppose…" She sighed. "For your 'heroism,' or whatever you would like to call it, you may each be awarded five points. Now back to your dormitory before I change your mind!"

Ellie smiled and breathed in relief, following the others out of the bathroom. She couldn't help but smirk a little at Snape, who looked annoyed.

When they got back to the common rooms, Ron relived the experience to all the wide-eyed Gryffindors, mostly first years but also a few uppers, including Oliver, who congratulated them. When everyone finally settled down, Ellie was left alone with the twins.

"I could've handled it," she told them stubbornly, taking a seat on the sofa in front of the fireplace.

"Could not," George said, shaking his head. "You'd have been smothered into smithereens."

"But we didn't mind," Fred added. "Coming to the rescue and all. It gave us the false appearance of being noble, or something to that effect."

She laughed. "Well, it's pretty cool that I'm a first year and I've faced a troll. And, like, survived."

"And on your birthday!" George added. "What'd you think, good birthday? Room being invaded, date with the big Quidditch captain, facing a troll after Halloween feast?"

"Yeah," she said, "the best birthday ever."

**-END-**

Hope everyone liked! Thanks to **SocialKween, woman.o.war, **and **kairi6353 **(aka the newest reviewer, so thanks :) for reviewing! Everyone please R&R, and the next chapter will be coming soon!


	7. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

Sorry this one took so long, I've been on vacation :) Enjoy!

**Chapter 7: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin**

Quidditch practice was getting more and more fierce now that the season was getting closer. Whatever was going on with Ellie and Oliver outside of the game, her feelings for him were rather demolished by his obsessive attitude. It was cute, but much too stressful.

"I know we've got a great team," he said, "Chasers that work brilliantly together and the best Seeker I've seen, and our unbeatable Beaters…"

Fred and George smirked.

"But this is Slytherin, probably the toughest competition, and we've really got to work at it. So practice tomorrow, two hours, three if you start complaining."

Everyone groaned mostly inwardly as they headed back to the locker rooms. Ellie took this time to confide in Fred and George what she hadn't told them for several days.

"There's some stuff that's been going on," she said quietly. "Like… not just school stuff."

"Oh, cut with the cryptic," snapped George, who was in a foul mood because he'd accidentally eaten one of his own experiments.

She glared at him before explaining, "Well, you know I talked to McGonagall about all this stuff, and she said Snape said…" She sighed. "It's complicated. I'll tell you when we sit down."

About ten minutes later, they plopped onto the bench and she told them the story of Snape claiming to know both her mother and father, and the fact that she supposedly had a Perelli charm cast on her, which would activate a shield when she did what she loved most.

"Any idea what it is?" asked Fred. "Quidditch? Music? Art? Snogging Oliver?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know, and I don't really know what good it is to me. The only way I can find out is if something dangerous happens to me while I'm doing it, and what are the odds?"

"Still, once you figure it out, it's bound to be a lot of help," Fred offered. George was still sulking. "So how does Snape know your parents?"

"No idea. I don't think he likes them, though—not if how he treats me is any indication." Then she launched into the other story, about how she'd spoken to Hagrid and he'd revealed something about a Philosopher's Stone.

George seemed to be lifted from his bad spirits quickly. "Really?" he asked. "I haven't heard of it—not that that means a lot—I don't really pay attention as much as I should…"

Ellie snorted.

Fred looked more serious than usual. "So you think those three know what it is?"

"Not exactly," she said. "Something seemed to click with Hermione when I said 'Philosopher's Stone.' Like, she'd already known there was an object, but she hadn't known what it was called."

"Well, since you've talked to him on a more personal level," said George, "I think you should ask him about that three-headed dog. Hermione said it was guarding something. Maybe there's a connection?"

She frowned. There probably was, but how was she going to get Hagrid to tell her something like that? He didn't know her, not nearly as well as he knew Harry, and by the looks of things he wasn't even telling Harry everything he knew. Whatever was happening, it was big.

* * *

Finally the day of the match was there. Ellie woke up with a frighteningly nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach, wishing it could be her birthday and Fred and George could be there to cheer her up; she felt very alone in a room full of girls she still hardly talked to.

Lavender and Parvati were up a few minutes after her, and they immediately went into talk mode.

"I think you'll do great," Lavender gushed. "Seriously, you have nothing to worry about. I reckon if Oliver Wood fancies you, you _have _to be good at Quidditch."

Ellie laughed as she laced up her sneakers. She preferred Vans and Converse, but they weren't ideal Quidditch shoes. "Lavender, Oliver Wood doesn't fancy me, we're just friends," she said, mostly out of habit though she knew it was very true. There was no way Oliver could like her.

"You don't have to be modest," said Parvati cheerfully. "We don't mind. We're too young for dates, but when we get older, Lav's gonna date Ron."

"Hey!" Lavender shrieked; apparently this was a huge secret.

"What, scared Won-Won will find out?" teased Parvati, looking amused.

Ellie laughed and got her things together. "So you guys are coming to the game?" she asked, trying to steer away from the subject of boy crushes. They were too young, anyway.

"Definitely," they said at the same time. They were almost more in tune with each other than the twins.

Hermione and Eloise stirred and woke at this point, both looking annoyed. But when Hermione remembered the Quidditch game, her face softened.

"You'll do great, Ellie," she said, "you seem like a born flyer. Harry, too—I've got to find him and wish him luck."

Ellie nodded. "I'll come," she said. "Don't want to face the rest of the team alone."

Hermione laughed and led her out of the dorm, and Ellie breathed a sigh of relief. "I feel like they have no depth sometimes," she said to Hermione, meaning Parvati and Lavender.

"They have depth," Hermione said. She grinned. "Okay, maybe not, but they're not bad with magic."

"I know. Everyone here seems to be great with magic—okay, maybe not someone like Neville, but we all have aptitude, it what I mean. You know? I think Neville's problem is confidence. You have a lot of confidence, so you're all set. I've got a lot in Charms, so I'm—" She gasped audibly. "That's it! Charms! Hermione, next time we're in Charms, try to hurt me. Like, slap me or something."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

"It's just this thing I'm trying to figure out," Ellie lied. "What I love most. Something's supposed to happen. I like Charms a lot, maybe it'll be that." She figured if Hermione could keep secrets, so could she.

They reached the boys' dorms and Hermione left in search of Harry while Ellie went to find Fred and George, being yelled at by several boys clad in underwear.

Fred and George were already dressed and playing a round of poker.

"I thought we agreed poker's to be played downstairs?" she asked cheerfully. "Where I can have access to it?"

"Apparently you have access to it here, too," replied Fred, laying his hand down happily and announcing, "Full house!"

George tossed his cards angrily across the room, then casually brought them back with a flick of his wand and an _"Accio cards_."

"You two are better wizards than I thought," she said as they left for the Great Hall for breakfast. "I always assumed you were—"

"Pathetic idiots?"

"Too stupid to learn, so we resorted to pranks?"

"—better at some things than others," she finished carefully, "an example of 'others' being school spells."

"_Accio_'s easy," George explained. "And _Wingardium Leviosa _was a first year thing, if you're talking about the troll. Wasn't a big deal."

"But, I mean, Fred made a shield. That was cool."

"Dunno how I thought of that spell," Fred admitted. "Luck, I guess, I think I learned it in Defense a few years back. Didn't make much of a difference, since it broke."

"Whatever, it held up a long time."

"Not long enough," he snapped, his eyes flashing for a second.

She stared at him, puzzled. "But," she said, "we're all fine. It helped me and Hermione as long as it needed to… is there something wrong?"

They sat down at their table, rather isolated from everyone else so they could talk in private.

"Nothing's wrong," he said, loosening out again. "Sorry. I've just never been in, like, a near-death situation. It's weird."

"Neither have I," she reminded him. "But it was kind of exhilarating, wasn't it?"

Fred's mouth closed tighter, like he wanted to say something more but knew he shouldn't. So George spoke instead, saying something funny that didn't really matter, and things were back to normal—at least, until Wood came over and they were taken to the pitch.

* * *

Lee Jordan's voice rang out over the whole field, something that should've been exciting but was just even more nervous-making. Ellie was glad to know she wasn't in this alone; Harry looked completely panic-stricken.

"We'll be fine," Oliver assured them as they walked onto the field. "Harry, just as we've practiced and you'll be great. Ellie, Angelina, Katie—just play as a team, remember? And you'll do fine. Fred, George…" He laughed. "Well, I don't think you're nervous, so it's not an issue, is it?"

They laughed mutually, clearly not worried, which made Ellie even more worried.

"All right, then," Oliver said as they lined up in front of the Slytherin teams, mounting their brooms, ready to kick off. "Play your best!"

Madam Hooch raised her arms, and they all levitated into the air, waiting for her to throw the Quaffle. She counted down and blew her whistle, then tossed it into the air.

Ellie was overcome with the most powerful urge she had ever felt to _get that ball. _She felt like her life depended on it, which was the only explanation for her decent Cleansweep to beat everyone else's high-class brooms, taking her closest to the Quaffle. In one swift motion, she weaved through the angry Slytherin Chasers and off to one side toward their goals, glancing to the side.

The Slytherins were coming to her quickly, looking furious that she'd gotten the ball. She glanced around and found Angelina dashing to her other side, so she took the opportunity and threw her the Quaffle. Angelina caught it and zoomed forward further, making the final pass to Katie, who scored the goal.

"One very fast, defenseless score for Gryffindor!" Lee said happily. "That's ten points! And a very fast one on Ellie Breth—er, Ellie's Cleansweep!"

Ellie smirked as the Quaffle was being tossed back in; she'd warned him not to use her last name. But the distraction had cost her the Quaffle—where had it gone?

She exhaled with relief as she saw it being pushed forward by Angelina. Angelina was clearly stealing the spotlight in this game; she was flying expertly, had caught the Quaffle from Ellie precisely, and now zoomed to the Slytherin side and scored the goal flawlessly.

"Angelina Johnson scores a beautiful ten points!" cheered Lee.

The Slytherins looked furious, but they were also pointless; Angelina caught the next Quaffle and, when she sensed she might be cornered, threw it underhand to Ellie, who ducked low and caught it, swooping back up and scoring their third goal.

"Gryffindor's up to thirty now, and Slytherin's still at zero!" Lee shouted. "Will they catch up by the time the Snitch is caught? Potter doesn't seem to have an eye on it, nor does—" But he was interrupted by the crowd gasping as, for the fist time, a Slytherin caught the Quaffle: a Chaser named Adrian Pucey.

Ellie tried to reach him, but Katie was closer, and it was her turn. She darted over to Pucey and reached for the Quaffle, but he knocked into her. Obviously angry, she knocked back, and he, and finally she did so hard that he was slammed sideways and almost unseated. She took the opportunity to grab the Quaffle and toss it to Ellie, who tossed it to Angelina after a few seconds. Angelina scored.

Their winning streak continued for quite a nice amount of time until the game reached ninety to thirty. Ellie was mad they'd gotten than far, but she knew thirty wasn't nearly as much as ninety. She glanced around to find Harry, who should have caught the Snitch by now. Then she saw it.

He was on his broom near the middle of the field, but his broom was jerking about unsteadily, clearly not by his command. If he had a school broom she might've passed it off as bad polishing; but this was a Nimbus Two Thousand, and a new one. It wasn't supposed to do this.

She shot back into focus when a Bludger nearly hit her, surprising herself by gingerly plucking the Quaffle from Montague, who was holding it and sneaking past her. She scored a goal, then turned back to Harry.

He was clearly jinxed at this point; Lee was commenting on it, and everyone in the audience looked either pleased or infuriated. She searched the stands for Ron and Hermione, and saw rather worried expressions on their faces, but knew she had to play the game. She caught the ball from Katie and sent it to Angelina, then sighed and glanced back at Harry, who was about to fall off.

She strained her mind. She'd read about a Shield Charm, one that should protect him from whatever jinx someone was using… but she'd never tried it. It was advanced. She wasn't, not even in Charms, not that kind of advanced. But it was worth a try. She avoided being slammed into by Flint, then pulled out her wand, pointed it at Harry, and yelled nervously but clearly, "_Protego_!"

The effect was instantaneous: For a second, he sat rather precariously perched on his slanted broom; then he righted himself and zoomed off. Once he saw that he had control, he spun around and gave Ellie a thumbs-up and a very thankful look. The Slytherins were shouting something about unfairness, but she wasn't reprimanded for it.

The game probably wouldn't last much longer, because Harry was clearly going to be the first to catch the Snitch. He was zooming around the field so fast, she doubted whether he could see anything. But the Snitch did stand out, with its glinting gold, and she trusted Harry to know what he was doing.

She got back into the game to see that Angelina had scored two goals since she'd helped Harry. The Slytherins looked furious, but worse, they looked like they were planning something.

She glanced at two of them, Montague and Flint. They both had sneers on their faces, and were looking straight at Angelina, who had the Quaffle in her arm again.

Ellie flew over to Katie, who hadn't noticed. "They're up to something!" she shouted.

Katie glanced at the Chasers, who were inching up to Angelina. "Then let's go," she shouted back, and she and Ellie zoomed over to the rest of them. Montague and Flint were closing in on Angelina, but no sooner had they done that than Ellie and Katie flew at them from behind, giving them sharp kicks in the backs. Angelina ducked downward and then back up, and tossed the Quaffle to Ellie, who made a long shot and scored a goal.

Ellie waited to be disciplined for the kicking, but none came. She supposed it was justified, as they were trying to do something worse to Angelina.

The game was still exciting as Quidditch could be, but she had to admit it was getting long. She wasn't sure Gryffindor could stay ahead forever, and sure enough, the disaster happened shortly after: Flint grabbed one of his Beaters' bats and directed a Bludger straight at Oliver, who fell painfully to the ground.

Furious, she worked harder than before with Angelina and Katie to score three more goals, but she was silently begging Harry to find the Snitch. They couldn't keep the Quaffle away from the Slytherins forever, and once they got it, there would be no defense.

But she noticed with relief that he had seen it. She saw the flash in Harry's eyes, the gathering speed of his shiny, new Nimbus: he had seen the Snitch.

"Go, Harry!" she could help but shout, before rounding on Pucey and intercepting the Quaffle thrown to him. She got a taste of her own medicine, however, when Flint knocked into Angelina and grabbed the Quaffle midair. It didn't matter, though; Harry was getting closer, closer, and…

Her heart sank. He had fallen. If they lost their Seeker, there was no hope for the rest of the game.

But Lee didn't make it sound over. "Wait," he was saying over the intercom (or whatever magical intercom it was—she'd have to make reference to that for whenever they finally got around to their band), "he's not going away… he's sort of retching… and—"

The crowd gasped as something unexpected came out of Harry's mouth: a little gold ball Ellie was fairly certain was the Snitch. Sure enough, Lee was erupting with joy, "He's got it! Harry Potter caught the Snitch and won the game for Gryffindor!"

Ellie cheered happily as she touched back down. The twins touched seconds after her, dismounting and yanking her along to congratulate Harry.

"Bloody fantastic, Harry," George was saying. "Never had a practice like that. 'Course, they'll have to get a new Snitch, or some very good sanitizer. But, still."

Harry and Ellie laughed as Fred gave his own compliments, and the four of them ran eagerly back to the common rooms, receiving several glares from defeated Slytherins.

* * *

The next day was a Sunday, and Ellie made up her mind to spend the entire day with Fred and George. She felt like she took them for granted, but days spent with them were always more interesting, so she shouldn't.

She came into their dorm early, and no one complained, as almost everyone was asleep. Lee Jordan greeted her with an easy nod, and she didn't recognize the other third-year Gryffindor boys.

"Oi," she said, sitting on Fred's legs. To her delight, he and George were both asleep. She'd been trying all year to catch them when they were in their pyjamas, and it was already November. Finally she did; Fred was in green plaid pants with a Bertie Botts t-shirt, and George in blue plaid pants with a Chocolate Frogs t-shirt.

"You guys are such lame twins," she said cheerfully. Fred grumbled something before opening his eyes. Then he shot out of bed with a bit of a yelp. She laughed.

"Not fair!" George sputtered from the other bed. "Warning next time. You're lucky we're dressed."

Lee gave him a look. "Are you implying you dress nude?"

"I'm implying she should've warned us," George corrected moodily, and sank back down into his bed. "What's so important anyway?"

"The Weasleys," she replied, and turned to Fred. "The band, not the people."

His sleepy face grew a little interested. "Oh?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I was thinking, while this whole Philosopher's Stone, Hagrid, three-headed-dog thing is really important—" she said this in a rather hushed voice, ignoring Lee's hurt expression that she was keeping secrets "—so is having fun. So why don't we ask McGonagall about having a Christmas concert?"

Lee, obviously not in the mood to be ignored, gave a yawn and left the room. Since everyone else was asleep, Fred and George didn't seem to hold back.

"That'd be brilliant!" George exclaimed. "My drumming is going excellently. I can play all of those covers you gave me."

She smiled. She'd given him recordings of bands like the White Stripes and Aerosmith, who typically didn't have hard drum parts. Still, she'd noticed his progress.

"You've heard me," Fred added. "Guitar's fine. Though I guess you'll want me to sing?"

She nodded. "I can do one or two songs, maybe. I'm all right at singing, if I have a point to make. So we can just trade the guitar when the other isn't singing."

He nodded back. "Lovely," he said cheerfully. "But we don't have a bass player."

"I know. But maybe McGonagall will let Ginny come for the holidays?"

Fred's smile widened, and George asked eagerly, "When do we ask?"

**-END-**

Thanks to all who reviewed and keep reviewing!


	8. Christmas, Part 1

* * *

Hi guys, so I'm finally back… I'm sorry that it took so long, the reason I haven't been updating is that this story is really part of a series (all 7 books) and doesn't feel totally complete by itself to me. But I'm going to keep updating and see what happens. I've already finished it, so I just have to edit and post.

Enjoy! Oh, and disclaimer—I don't own any of the songs I mention.

**Chapter 8: Christmas, Part One**

Harry was more and more thankful to Ellie every time he saw her. From his Snitch victory, he'd seemed to forgotten she'd saved him, but now he remembered. And that wasn't the only good thing to come of her saving him—all through November, Flitwick was treating her like royalty. The ability to perform a _Protego _spell, which Quirrel told her was also very nice Defense work, was rare for their age.

Snape, on the other hand, wasn't so nice to her. He seemed colder with her than usual, and finally she confronted Hermione about it, since Hermione seemed to know what was going on. Hermione at first denied anything, then admitted Snape had been focusing on Harry and not blinking, signs that it was he who jinxed the broom. And he was definitely muttering an incantation.

This left Ellie feeling weak. Saving Harry had been lucky, not talented. Could she do it again? Shouldn't she report Snape? But all she could focus on was the band.

Since McGonagall had agreed to an open concert before the feast, and agreed to have Ginny join them, Fred and George were always pulling her away and working overtime. They'd agreed only to do covers, mostly of Muggle bands but also of a few magic bands like the Weird Sisters, who the pure- and half-bloods would recognize and enjoy. Ellie would be singing the Weird Sisters songs and one other, _Make Your Own Kind of Music _by Cass Elliot. Fred would be singing the rest, including the White Stripes' _Seven Nation Army_, Nirvana's _Heart Shaped Box, Swing Life Away _by Rise Against, and _You and Me _by Lifehouse.

"Some of it's popular," explained Ellie. "Some of it's hardcore. It's enough of a variety to hopefully suit everyone. Think we'll be laughed off the stage?"

"Nah, people would be too scared we'd put some kind of pimple-causing pills in their pumpkin juice," explained Fred easily. "We hold an influence here, you know."

She laughed. "Really."

He nodded eagerly. "Oh, yeah. Very high one." George nodded, too.

"Hey, changed to a dog recently?" George asked. "Figure that'd make a good closing act, don't you?"

She glared at him. "No, I haven't, it's pretty hard and I can only do it when Snape's about to attack me, and not even then now because I'm scared he'll see. And no, I don't think it'll make a good closing act. If I ever get the hang of it, I want to use it to my advantage."

They grinned, obviously proud.

"Hey, maybe we should become Animagi, George," Fred suggested.

"Maybe," George agreed. "Bet it's tricky, but if her dad can do it, why can't we? Sure, I say we should go for it… now, we'll need… er…"

She laughed, knowing they wouldn't have the perseverance or patience to go through with it. "Come on," she said instead. "Let's play."

* * *

Ron and Harry were staying at Hogwarts, Harry because of his aunt and uncle and Ron because his parents were away with his siblings. Hermione explained that she was going to spend some much-needed time with her Muggle parents, and that she'd be back a few days before the start of term. She apologized for missing their concert, but promised to listen to them another time.

"That's okay," Ellie said easily. "I'm just glad you're not so withdrawn with me anymore."

Hermione blushed. "I know. And sorry about that, but… I don't know if Ron and Harry understand, but it's _really _high-profile, top-secret. We shouldn't know any of it."

Ellie nodded. "I know."

"Anyway," Hermione said, "I told Ron and Harry if they really want to find out about the Philosopher's Stone and Nicholas Flamel, they ought to check the restricted section."

"The restricted section?" Ellie repeated unsurely. "Really?"

Hermione shrugged. "I certainly don't know. Just a piece of advice, since we're being open." She grinned a little as she finished packing. "Well, I'll see you after Christmas," she said, and waved as she exited the dorm.

With the dorm to herself, Ellie had time to concentrate again. She just had to focus, to channel her inner 'dog,' and she could do it. She had to! What use were these spells her father had put on her if she couldn't figure out how to use them?

It didn't work. She tried and tried, even pictured Snape or the three-headed dog, but it didn't matter. She felt like she had absolutely no control, and it was frustrating. And what about the Perelli charm? She still had no idea what she loved most or how it would affect her.

She sighed and abandoned the approach, instead taking the stairs two at a time and sitting down with Fred and George, helping both of them win at Chinese Checkers. When they finished (a tie; she'd given equal help), they turned to face her, obviously knowing she had something to say.

"What?" she asked after a second of them waiting. "I didn't say anything."

"We're waiting for you to," explained George.

"Who says I always have to talk about me? What about you? How's your life?"

"Ah, you see, we have a schedule for ourselves," Fred said calmly. "We discuss ourselves with you when we're at lunch and/or working on joke shop routines, and you when we're anywhere else."

"That's stupid," she said plainly.

"It is what it is," George said with a heavy, overdramatic sigh.

"Okay, well, since you're so sure," Ellie said, succumbing, "I guess I _do _have to talk about me. You know. About the Stone. And the Perelli charm. And my dog form. I can't do any of it, or figure out any of it! It's so frustrating…"

"Calm down," Fred said gently, giving her arm a squeeze that she hadn't expected. "It'll be fine, El. You're not in mortal peril right now. You don't need to learn those things right away."

She sighed. "I know. But the Stone, that's important, and if I want to go after it—"

"We'll help with your thing," George said. "Your dog thing. You'll get good at it. And we'll try to help you figure out the Philosopher's Stone thing. As long as you—"

"—practice music with you?" she finished, and grinned. "'Course."

* * *

A few days into Christmas break, Harry approached Ellie with a rather glum look on his face. She abandoned practicing with Fred and George to ask him what was wrong.

"You said you wanted to know all things—" he pulled her away from Fred and George before finishing quietly "—Philosopher's Stone related, right?"

She shrugged. "Yeah. Something happen?"

"Not really. But I tried looking in the restricted section—"

"_What_?" she demanded shrilly. "Without me? I thought you said I could come! What about Ron? Did he come?" She knew she was going too far, but she hated being left out of something so important. It had given her a sense of belonging, having something to do apart from Fred and George.

"Calm down, Ron didn't come either. And I didn't get caught. But I couldn't find anything. Don't know what good it will end up being."

She frowned. "Well, I'd still like to give it a try, if we found a way not to get caught. Aren't there invisibility potions?"

"Probably. But we're not experienced enough to make them, I'd say."

She tapped her finger on her cheek thoughtfully. "Well, let's give it till after Christmas," she said, "if that's all right with you. I have enough to do with the concert and everything."

He grinned. "So you're going to do it? A concert?"

She nodded. "Pretty cool, isn't it? Hopefully I won't embarrass myself too badly."

* * *

Days went by quickly, mostly a blur of studying, practicing for their concert, and trying to change into a dog. By Christmas Eve she wasn't successful with the dog changing, but she'd gotten the hang of the necklace Fred had given her, through which she could now send him messages that clearly appeared on his ring, and vice versa.

She enjoyed having it with her, as his constant reminder. It glowed several times a day, and she had a feeling his must, too. She thought about him a lot. The other person she thought a lot about was Oliver.

She spoke to him at Quidditch practice and in the hallways a lot. He was very fond of her then because of how well she'd done at Quidditch, but she still didn't see where they lied. She could tell the treat at her birthday hadn't meant anything. He might like her, but what could he do? He was a fifth year! He was almost sixteen years old. What was he going to do with Ellie, who was twelve?

She didn't see why he liked her, really. Ellie was pretty for her age—her dark hair and silver eyes had always been striking—but she still didn't compare with some of the girls in his grade. She didn't have a body yet, her face was still sprinkled with freckles and some acne, and she had centimeter-long fingernails and ratty shoes.

Then again, it could all be in her imagination. He could just be a good friend with no interest at all.

By Christmas Eve, she still wasn't sure what to sing. All she had was _Make Your Own Kind of Music. _It was a good song, especially for a holiday, but not enough. She wanted at least one more, one with impact.

She hadn't experienced anything traumatic, and her year had been great. She didn't have much to complain about, so she wasn't about to whine in a song. She wished she had her iPod, but devices like that didn't work here, so she had to go through all her individual albums. Finally she found the perfect song, and she knew that with it, their concert would be perfect.

Ginny arrived on Christmas morning, after what she explained was a desperate plea not to go and visit her brother. "I see them plenty," she explained when she arrived. "Besides, how many ten-year-olds do you know who've seen Hogwarts?"

Fred and George seemed amused by their sister, but Ellie was glad to have her. Ginny was enthusiastic and interesting to be around, and lots of fun at the very stressful morning practices.

"How many people are coming?" she asked after rehearsing _Chasing Cars, _a song none of them thought was that great but would be a popular one. Fred sounded amazing, to the point where even Ellie had been speechless.

"Not many," said George. "Lee is. Harry and Ron'll be here. Few others of their friends… hm… well, there'd be Katie Bell and of course Ellie's boyfriend…"

Fred, who was always very annoyed when they talked about Oliver, glanced at Ellie. "Will you be okay playing, or should we just replace you so you can dance with him?"

She rolled her eyes. "Come on, guys, focus. _What a Scene. _We've got to play it, I'm telling you, the words are nothing until you've heard the song put together."

"All right, fine," grumbled Fred and George, and they paid better attention. Ellie played guitar in this song, and she sang along with Fred. In the Goo Goo Dolls version a boy sang, but it worked either way.

And she was right: it was perfect.

* * *

Plugging in and tuning up was one of the scariest things she had ever done. She plugged her guitar carefully in, and Fred helped her tune up, while Ginny made a few screeching sounds on her bass. George improvised badly on the drums, and Ellie was just thankful no one heard them yet.

She wasn't sure if what she was wearing was even appropriate. She was definitely wearing Muggle clothes, anyway. Ellie didn't have much of a body to show off, but she wore a flattering black dress that was very rock and roll with a pair of black-and-white Converse. She wasn't sure whether she looked stupid or not, but she knew she was nothing compared to the twins. Fred and George had dressed in matching clothes again, each in a plaid t-shirt, Fred's green and George's purple. They were wearing jeans, and while the clothes were clearly bought in the wizarding world, they too could look like Muggles. Ginny, like Ellie, was too young for 'gorgeous' but still very cute.

Finally the doors to the Great Hall opened, and about twenty people came in. She recognized Oliver, Katie, Ron, Harry, Lavender, Parvati and Padma Patil, Lee Jordan, Dean, Draco Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle, Cedric Diggory (who Ellie had to bite her lip not to gasp at), and the rest she didn't. McGonagall and Flitwick came to chaperone, and a few minutes later, in walked Dumbledore.

Ginny's expression was panicked; Fred and George's were amused. Ellie wasn't sure what to think.

All eyes were on them. Some were derogatory; Draco looked like he wanted to spit on them. Others, like the expressions of Dean and Ron, were jealous. Ron clearly was resenting not being a Weasley. At least, a band Weasley.

Ellie cleared her throat and pulled out her wand. She tapped her neck, then pointed at Ginny, Fred, and then George, then said clearly, "_Sonorus._" It was something Flitwick had taught her, which would magnify their sound. She glanced at Dumbledore, who apparently had an introduction.

"Hello, everyone who has stayed and taken advantage of this rare occasion," he greeted. "I hope you enjoy the festivities given to us by this lovely group of students. Perhaps we will choose a date when more people are there for next time? Yes, well, these four call themselves the Weasleys."

Most people erupted into applause, though a few people booed, probably Slytherins. Ellie ignored them, cleared her throat, and spoke.

"Hi," she said, "the first song is called _Make Your Own Kind of Music. _It's a Muggle classic."

Fred began on guitar. The song was more strings oriented, but it sounded fine with a guitar. She was a little nervous, but she began to sing clearly, and got into it. By the chorus, the crowd was singing, too.

"_Make your own kind of music_," she sang happily, "_sing your own special song, make your own kind of music, even if nobody else sings along…_"

Singing in front of everyone was easier and much more fun than she'd expected. After that came _Chasing Cars, _followed by the Dandy Warhols' _Bohemian Like You, _and to that extent, Queen's _Bohemian Rhapsody, _all sang by Fred. They even tried a Led Zeppelin, which sounded nothing like the original but was still clapped for by the audience. Through each song, whether she was singing her heart out or streaming notes off her guitar, Ellie felt a sense of belonging and excitement she'd never felt before.

Finally they took a break and went down to the food and people.

They were bombarded. Ellie couldn't believe how popular she had become from a few hours ago to now. People she'd never spoken to were acting like they were old friends. A girl hanging around Cedric like a leech was particularly excited.

"I've seen you around!" the girl squealed. "What's your name?"

"Ellie," Ellie replied uncertainly. "You?"

"I'm Marietta, I'm a second year," she explained, tossing a strand of her hair. "And this is Cedric, he's my…" She cleared her throat. "Friend." She sounded disappointed.

"Hey," Cedric greeted, obviously looking uncomfortable. "You sounded great."

"Thanks," Ellie replied, feeling suddenly very hot. Oliver was one thing, but Cedric was almost humorously good-looking. Luckily Cedric didn't seem to have the interest in her that Oliver did. "Er—are you a second year?"

Cedric looked offended. "Fourth," he corrected. "Hufflepuff. You?"

"First," she mumbled. Then she added, more proudly, "Gryffindor."

"Ellie," said a voice from behind her, and she turned to see in relief that it was Oliver. Ellie smiled briefly at Marietta and Cedric before walking away.

"Hey," she said to Oliver, taking a seat next to him. "How are you?"

He smiled. "Good. Wasn't having a great Christmas, but that sure helped. You guys sounded fantastic. I didn't even know you were in a band."

She nodded. "Yeah, we started this summer. I lived with the Weasleys."

"Yeah, I think George told me." Oliver looked uneasy, which was odd for him; usually he was perfectly collected when talking to her. "You're not, er, with them, are you? Any of the Weasleys?"

She coughed on her soda before shaking her head. "No," she said quickly. Honestly, she was still astonished at the thought of being 'with' anyone. She had only gotten used to boys that year.

"No one?" he asked, looking strangely hopeful.

She shook her head. "No," she said. Then, hating herself, she added, "I'm only twelve."

The silence that followed was heavy and uncomfortable. Fifth years were fifteen and sixteen years old. Oliver was a lot older than her, and whether they fancied each other or not, they'd been sidestepping it.

"You seem older," he mumbled, as if to justify himself.

She didn't say anything, and the heavy silence hung over them for several seconds until Fred, apparently not noticing what was happening, easily walked over to them and interrupted.

"Oi, El, we're about to play," he said. "You ready?"

She glanced at Oliver, who still looked embarrassed and upset. She turned back to Fred and asked quietly, "Think you can play _Capital H _and _London Calling _without me?"

Those were the last two before _What a Scene, _their big finale. Fred looked disappointed, but he nodded and went back onstage. A few people in the audience looked annoyed—Ellie had taken role as the star without knowing it—but it was true: they didn't need her when they had Fred. She and Fred could both sing and play.

"Why didn't you go?" asked Oliver quietly.

"So I can hang out with you," she said with a shrug. It was true. Whatever they were, they were at least friends, and she didn't want things to be awkward between them. "If you want, anyway."

"Of course I do!" he said quickly. "I just… keep forgetting how young you are. I'm not pressuring you or anything, am I? Because—"

She laughed and took his hand, standing up. "It's fine," she assured him. "You want a drink?"

He finally collected himself, going from embarrassed back to calm and collected, like he usually was. "Nah," he said, "but I wouldn't mind a dance."

And before she knew it, she was dancing to _London Calling _with Oliver Wood, and every time she spun around she spotted Lavender and Parvati squealing about it. And she honestly didn't mind the attention, because it felt so right to be dancing with a guy. It was about that moment when she realized what a romantic she would become. Dancing with him, being honestly liked by a guy, gave her a feeling she loved.

But she loved music more. And as soon as they finished, she waved goodbye to him and ran back up to the stage, her heart pounding. She couldn't be more excited to play _What a Scene, _one of her favourites, and feel her pulse spin and her heart thump. She loved the rush.

The song was all about the troubles and the lies of youth, of growing up and becoming independent but not having crutches to go off of. It was about using your independence, and not doing what others told you to. She felt a connection with the song and the music, and for the first time in the world, as she sang and played with Fred close next to her, she felt like she was in the perfect place at the perfect time with the perfect company, like nothing could possibly go wrong.

It happened suddenly, so suddenly not even the teachers had seen it coming. Fred had, she could tell. She was singing with her heart only, hardly paying heed to the cheering crowd, who by the end of the song was singing the _Na na nanana na_'s right along with her. But he was, and he was the one who noticed Draco slowly pull out his wand.

Ellie didn't recognize the spell. It wasn't a harmful one. She hadn't even heard him say anything. She wouldn't have noticed at all if Fred hadn't whipped out his own wand in defense. She just looked out to see insects and disgusting goo spewing out from Draco's wand in her direction, like the wizarding version of musician bashing. But Fred didn't need to defend her, because something else did.

Instead of hitting her, it got about a foot away from her, and a tiny white light appeared, almost like a wall. The waste and bugs knocked into it and fell to the ground, she felt a pang of pain inside her, and suddenly everyone was quiet.


	9. Christmas, Part 2

**Chapter 9: Christmas, Part Two**

The concert was over whether it had happened or not, so Ellie slowly raised her guitar over her head and looked around. Ginny looked amazed, George looked confused, and Fred looked happy. Draco looked furious, and the other students shared basically the looks of George and Ginny. The teachers stood in silence for several seconds.

Ellie cleared her throat. "Um," she said, "we're the Weasleys, I hope you enjoyed the show." She gave a short wave, and hesitated.

The twenty or so people burst into applause. Apparently the shield had been like a final act; most of them were more enthusiastic than they had been about the music.

Ellie smiled in relief and waved before coming back down with her guitar. George brought his drumsticks and Ellie her bass; Flitwick rushed over to levitate the drum set back to the dorms. Ellie was stopped in her tracks by McGonagall, who had bustled over to her.

"Elena," she said.

Ellie blushed. "I prefer Ellie, ma'am."

McGonagall looked amused and annoyed. "Yes, well, that is not really the issue at hand. Do you know what just happened?"

"Draco performed a particularly awful spell?" she volunteered loudly. A few people snickered.

"Actually," McGonagall said in an undertone so only Ellie could hear, "it means you have discovered what you love the most. You just activated your Perelli charm."

Ellie's eyes widened. "My—I—_what_?"

"I suppose it is music," she said calmly, "or perhaps being with the Weasleys… at any rate, when you were doing that, you were protected. I would suggest you remember that later on."

"Y—yes, thank you, ma'am," Ellie stammered. She hadn't even realized it was the Perelli charm. She was immediately relieved she had discovered it sooner rather than later.

McGonagall smiled and nodded before heading back to the teachers' table. A few moments later, Dumbledore stood and dismissed them. "Go and exchange your gifts," he said regally, and gave them a bow.

It was still early, so Ellie hadn't had the chance to check her mail or exchange her gifts. But Fred and George were with her, and Ginny tagged along—she had to catch a train at three, and it was twelve. Harry and Ron caught up to them in the hallway, shadowed by Lavender, Lee, Parvati, and Dean. Oliver gave her a grin and stayed behind to talk to Cedric. She shuddered when she saw them together; it was disturbingly beautiful.

"Ellie!" Dean shouted. "You were brilliant! You, too, Fred, George." He gave Ginny a questioning look. "Are you a Weasley too, then?"

"In blood and spirit," she said cheerfully.

"Being a Weasley has never been cooler," Fred whispered to Ellie as they made it to the common room. "Thanks for that."

She smiled and nodded, and plopped onto the sofa with him and George. Ginny, Harry, and Ron took armchairs, and Lavender, Parvati, and Dean took the nearest tables. Their gifts were already sorted from the morning; evidently the house elves had decided to organize.

"Ellie!" Lavender squealed. "I was hoping you'd remember. I split yours with Parvati."

Ellie smiled. "Can't wait to open it," she lied. She had gotten Lavender and Parvati each a charmed ponytail holder that instantly made the hairstyle lump-less. From them she received a book on wizards.

"Not as magicians," explained Parvati with a wink. "As _boys._"

"Not that you need the experience," added Lavender jealously.

Ellie raised her eyebrows and nodded. "Thanks," she said unsurely, and turned to Ron and Harry's present (which they too had split), a box of Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans, and Fizzing Whizbees. She had gotten Ron a shiny miniature model of Harry's Nimbus 2000, and Harry a handheld Snitch to entertain himself. It didn't dart as far or as fast, but it was 'good for exercise.'

For and from Dean she had gotten some candy, and for Oliver (who had just entered, looking annoyed that he was the only fifth year) she'd bought a book written by the captain of the Tornadoes called _Quidditch 411: Captain Strategies and Techniques. _She thought it sounded boring, but he practically gasped when he saw it.

"Thanks, Ellie, I've been wanting this forever!" he said, and his expression made it sound true.

From him she had received a beautiful jeweled bracelet. It was clearly new and expensive, and she honestly liked it. It wasn't too much—she could wear it around. But something about it made it feel plain. It was like because Fred had gotten her a charmed, connectional necklace, this non-magic bracelet meant nothing.

But she put it on right away, and grinned at Oliver as the girls resumed squealing.

Finally came her presents for and from Fred and George. She gave George a mix CD of two things: songs he'd like and instructions he'd need, specifically instructions for joke products. Ironically he had given her a box of joke products, including trick parchment, fake food, and spell-check quills.

Again Fred's was the best. For him she had gotten two things—one, joint ownership of Ringo, who he was constantly obsessing about, and two, a series of band t-shirts similar to her own, but with the bands he preferred. She felt iffy about it, but he seemed honestly excited.

Fred had given her a tiny mirror to put inside her locket. "Since you've been keeping up with it," he explained. "It's like a visual walkie talkie. If we both open ours at the same time, we can see and hear each other."

She didn't really understand how amazing this was until Dean, Lavender, Parvati, and even Oliver gasped about it. Lee had clearly already known, and was grinning at George, who also had.

"That's really advanced magic," Oliver said. "The locket too." He looked annoyed.

"Thanks, Fred," she said, and reached out to hug him. When she saw Oliver's frustrated expression, she shortened the hug and backed away a little too quickly.

"Well, there you go," said Fred with a sigh. "Christmas. A great one."

"Wait," Harry said, and stood up. A pile fell onto the floor, and he turned red. "Sorry, it's nothing." But Ellie sensed that he was lying to get rid of the others, and she was right: Lavender and Parvati yawned and headed back, soon to be followed by Lee and Dean.

"I'll see you later, Ellie," said Oliver before leaving, too.

"Pedophile," muttered Fred and George.

"Guys," Harry interrupted, glancing down at the package in front of him. It was wrapped and bowed neatly. "Look. No note—wait, no… _Your father lent this to me. It's time it was returned to you. Use it well._"

Everyone stared at him in silence for several seconds.

"Try it on," Ron finally said, sounding a bit excited.

Harry swallowed before pulling it over his head. A second later, he disappeared. After a bit more movement, his head reappeared—without its body.

"You—whoa—body!" Ellie stammered, taking a step back.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak!" said Ron excitedly.

Fred and George high-fived each other and said a mutual "Sweet" at the same time. Ellie shoved them.

"It's Harry's, guys, not yours," she reminded them sternly. Harry laughed before taking it off and folding it up. Ellie could tell the fact that it was his father's meant something to him.

* * *

Christmas was finished off with a feast for dinner, which Fred and George were eager to go to; Ellie, still stuffed from brunch, stayed behind with a TV dinner and, to her surprise, Harry.

"Hey," she greeted when she met him in the common room, disgusting-looking plate of mush in hand. She stepped over to the wizard version of a microwave and inserted her tray. She had no idea how it worked, but a few seconds later, her mush was food.

"Hey," he replied, and nodded at her. His eyes were still on the note that had come with his cloak.

"You're wondering about him?" she assumed, sitting next to him at an empty table. "Your dad? Or both of your parents?" She knew it was bold, but it was as good a time as any to approach him about it.

He didn't seem to cringe. "Yeah, I am a lot." He glanced at her. "What about you? Are your parents…?"

She grinned. "Muggles? Dead? Divorced?"

He laughed unenthusiastically. "There's a lot of ways to answer that, I guess."

"They're purebloods. At least, I think so. My mum never told me, but my dad was. She did magic, anyway. Not divorced, never married. My dad's in Azkaban."

He looked confused. "Azkaban?"

"It's the wizard prison," she explained. "That's all I know about it. Well, that and that they definitely don't have visiting hours."

"I'm sorry," he said genuinely.

"I'm sorry about yours," she replied honestly. "It is nice, though, isn't it? Being here at Hogwarts, getting away from it all? It's like that song, _What a Scene, _the last one we played? It's all about independence and growing up in a whole other community… not _exactly _about our positions, but—"

She trailed off. Harry didn't really care what their last song was about. She'd gotten him into a reverie about his family, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to get him out, anyway.

She sat in silence with him for several seconds before she was distracted by a tapping on the window. She stood up and walked over, then smiled when she saw Ringo's beak rapping against the glass. She had expected to feel regret over sharing him with Fred, but she liked the fact that he'd have another owner. She held out an arm for him to perch on and let him inside.

"Hideous, isn't he?" she asked cheerfully to Harry. "Half owl, half raven."

He laughed. "Not hideous. He looks pretty cool, actually. What's the letter?"

She glanced at the envelope. In a flourished, script style was the name _Ellie, _and from the return to sender corner was _Serena Bretherworth. _She bit her lip and opened it up. She noticed that at the bottom was a heavy load of gold coins.

_Ellie,_

_  
I am sorry it took so long to get back to you after your last letter. Your bird (if I may say, your monstrosity of a bird) persisted so much that I assumed the only way to punish it was to send it away without a letter. It returned just before Christmas, so I decided to give it something this time. I hope it reaches you by then._

_They did tell me you changed into a dog. I have no idea what this means and naturally was furious—but there is not much I can do. Try to avoid doing it if you can. I suspect your father had something to do with it._

_I enclosed thirty of my last Galleons for some Christmas shopping. I won't be needing them._

_Of course you are welcome to come home this summer, though the campaign is going well and I may not be around a lot. Molly has also assured me that you are welcome there, if you prefer._

_Happy Christmas and new year—_

_  
Serena_

Of course, she hadn't read it aloud. She read it silently, and when she was finished, she forced a smile and stuffed it back into the envelope. "Just wishing me a happy Christmas."

She couldn't believe her mother expected her not to try to get the dog trick down. How could she not? It would be amazing if she could do it!

She wasn't surprised at anything else. The formality was natural for her mother. Just another thing Ellie couldn't stand. She gave Ringo a few rubs behind the ears before sending him off without a reply. She was tired of replying to her mother's rude letters. She'd spend the summer with the Weasleys again, and see where things went from there. She felt disgusted by her mother.

"You okay?" he asked after another few seconds.

She forced herself to nod rather coldly, and stood up. "See you tomorrow," she said, and gave him a short, tired wave.

"Hey," he said. "I'm going to try the restricted section again tomorrow night. Under the cloak. Do you want to come? I'd invite Ron, but he's a total klutz…"

Ellie didn't mention that she was a bit of a klutz herself. "Yeah, sure," she said, honestly glad that after that awkward exchange he had still asked her to join him in the big mystery. "I still feel like if we just had a search engine at the library…"

He laughed. "Not a Muggle library," he reminded her. "We'll just look for 'Philosopher's Stone' or 'Nicholas Flamel,' I'm sure we'll come up with something."

She nodded. "All right, then, tomorrow night. Thanks." She smiled before heading up the stairs.

* * *

She endured Lavender and Parvati's gossip remarks until finally they fell asleep. Ellie couldn't. There was too much to think about, too much to process… the letter from her mother, the Perelli charm, everything with Oliver, and now everything with Harry and the Philosopher's Stone.

She checked her watch again to see that it was already one in the morning. Just as she was starting to drift off, her locket glowed a vibrant shade of pink, and she opened it up. Inside was the mirror Fred had gotten her at Christmas, which she had only used a few times.

The mirror was showing his face, expression cheerful and eyes bright. "Common room?" she heard him ask.

She sighed and started to reply no, but she had no excuse—she was wide awake—so she closed it and went downstairs as quietly as possible.

It wasn't that she didn't want to see Fred. She did. In all of this, the twisted complications between Harry, Ron, and Hermione, with the added expense of the edgy romantic issues with Oliver… Fred and George were all she had that were stable. Especially Fred, her best friend, her duo musician, everything.

But she had a lot on her mind.

The second she saw him, she knew it would be fine. He was plopped on the sofa waiting for her, fireplace on, and he smiled in greeting when he saw her. She could tell he wouldn't be annoyingly jokey, because his expression gave away his mood easily.

"You couldn't sleep either?" she asked.

"Not really. And I figured New Year's Eve would have some big common room celebration, so we can have our night of celebration tonight instead. Don't have champagne, though… We learned something along the line."

"Yeah, turning water into rum, but I don't remember how. Just remember laughing 'cause Seamus couldn't get it right."

He laughed. "Sounds about right. Oh, well, water it is." He pulled out two water bottles and handed one to her. "So, how was your Christmas?"

"Great, thanks to you," she said honestly. "I mean it—your gift, and how well you played. Ginny, too." She gasped audibly. "I didn't say goodbye to her!"

He laughed. "She's spending the night. She asked to. She's back in our room with George. Mum's not thrilled about it, but Dumbledore let it slide, so not much she can do."

"Good for her," Ellie said. "I hope she's a Gryffindor. That'll make everyone."

"Yep, all the Weasleys, even Ellie," he agreed, putting an arm around her. Obviously it had been spur-of-the-moment; a second later, he removed it, thinking better of it.

"I still have to figure out how to change," she said quietly, staring into the fire. "I got a letter from my mum telling me not to, but you know. All the more reason _to._"

He laughed. "That's the way to think." But his voice was guarded; he could tell she wasn't happy.

She forced a smile. "So, want to pretend to be Snape?"

He cleared his throat. "Good morning—actually, it's quite an abysmal morning—all Mudbloods, leave the room—all right, you too, celebrities—now, Draco darling, get me some shampoo—no, I'll leave it 'til tomorrow."

She was cracking up at that point. His Snape impressions were hilariously off, but purposefully, which made them extremely entertaining. He offered to help her for real, but she preferred laughing to painfully transforming, so she spent the whole night with him goofing off and making fun of Snape. She only ended up with two hours of sleep and a very sleepy morning.

* * *

She spent all day with the twins, and she wanted to stay up with Fred again, but she also wanted very much to join Harry in solving the mystery. She went down to the common room at about eleven, and found him waiting for her, invisibility cloak in hand, looking nervous.

"Don't worry, we won't get caught," she assured him. "How could we?"

She pushed the portrait hole open and slipped under the cloak before the Fat Lady saw either of them. She shouted, "Who's there?" They said nothing, but ran into the darkness.

"It's really dark," she whispered, grabbing his arm so she could hide properly. She was surprised by how comfortable it felt to be under the cloak with him. If it were Oliver, she'd be freaking out; this was more like if it were Fred or George.

"Er… _Lumos,_" Harry whispered, and beneath the cloak his wand lit up. "Think they can see it?"

She poked her head out of the cloak and looked back. She couldn't see Harry, and could only see a very faint glow from underneath the cape. She ducked back under and said, "I don't think so. It's really dim."

They kept walking until they reached the library. Ellie waited for him to make a move, not sure whether or not she should open the door. A second later, he slowly lifted his hand and pushed it open. No one was inside that they could see, so they tiptoed in and let it click behind them.

"Okay, where is it?" she whispered.

"That way," he replied, and led her to the corner. There was a small room with the words RESTRICTED over the doorway, which Harry promptly ignored. When he hesitated, she took his arm and pulled him through. She supposed spending so much time with the twins made her less prone to nervousness about rule breaking.

They searched in silence, many times stepping in opposite directions and then yanking the cloak hastily back over themselves. First they searched for 'Nicholas Flamel,' but found nothing. Then they searched for 'Philosopher's Stone'—and got results.

"Look," she whispered, and pulled out a book entitled '_The Philosopher's Stone: Benefits of Immortality.'_

"Immortality?" he asked slowly. "But…"

Her eyes widened, and she flipped it open, scanning the pages for information. "Look," she said. "Small stone, created by Nicholas Flamel."

"That's got to be it," he said, nodding. "So it gives the owner immortality… that must explain…"

"Why Snape's after it?" she finished. "Do you really think he wants immortality? With the sucko life he's living?"

She remembered Harry wasn't as easily amused as Fred or George when he shot her a look.

"Sorry," she muttered. "Should we take this?"

He shook his head. "No, I don't think so. We'll come back if we need it—"

He cut off when they heard a voice coming from nearby. Ellie's head shot around and her eyes widened: someone was coming over to them.

Harry thrust the cloak around them more closely, but the book fell to the ground. Ellie reached down to pick it up, but Harry grabbed her arm.

"Someone's coming!" he hissed.

She shook her head. They had to put the book back. She grabbed it and shoved it back in the V-W section, too frantic to find its exact place, then shuffled away with him. But there was no way they had gone unheard.

"Who's there?" shouted a furious Filch. "I know you're out there, don't bother hiding!"

They definitely did. Harry ran over to the corner of the room, and she followed, making sure the cloak was covering every spare inch of her. Filch went right past them without seeing them. She didn't exhale until he began shouting across the room.

"Here," Harry muttered, and thrust open the nearest door as quietly as possible. Filch made no indication that he had heard, so Ellie followed Harry through the door and into the next room. They broke into a run through several winding places until finally they stopped in a different room.

In the middle of it was a mirror.

* * *

Review!


	10. The Mirror and the Stone

**Chapter 10: The Mirror and the Stone**

They stared at it for several seconds before moving.

"Look," he said, taking a step closer. "_Erised. _Wonder what that means?"

Ellie followed him closer, but when she got close enough to see herself, stopped short. She didn't just see herself. She saw herself with a man, a tall, dark, handsome man, his hand on her shoulder, smiles on their faces. He looked like her, the same thin face and dark hair, not too tall but rather thin.

He was her father. He was standing next to her. She could almost feel his hand on her shoulder…

She looked up, but there was no one there. She felt her heart rate rising, her face reddening, her mind spinning. She turned to look at Harry, who was looking at it in a kind of daze.

"Harry," she whispered, "do you see him?"

He took several seconds to peel his eyes away. "Him? My father?"

"_Your _father?" she repeated. "No—mine."

His eyes went back to the mirror. "Ellie, no, that's my dad, James Potter, and my mum, Lily. I know it, he looks like me, he has glasses… and she was a redhead…"

Ellie shook her head. "No, there's no lady, and the guy doesn't look like you, he looks like _me._" Her voice was strained. She knew it was a mirror of illusions, that they were seeing different things, but she didn't want it to be true. She wanted this to be a place where she could communicate with her father. This was nothing more than a picture to stare at.

She looked back at the mirror. "Er—Andrew?"

The figure in the mirror looked sad. He shook his head.

"But," she persisted, "you _are _my… Dad?"

This time he nodded. He still looked sad.

"All right," Harry said, "fine, then. This is a mirror that shows our parents? But you're asking him questions. If they answer, it must mean—"

"I don't like it," she said. "Why is it here?"

"You don't like it?" he repeated. "It's the most amazing thing I've ever seen."

"What's the point? You can't really communicate. Yes/no questions aren't communicating."

"But," he insisted, "they're _right there._ In the mirror."

"But it's not really them," she said, "you know that, Harry."

He looked like he did, but he didn't want to believe it. "It could be," he insisted. "Maybe it's some kind of portal, that connects us with the dead…"

"But my dad's not dead," she said firmly.

A hint of shame came over his face. "I know. Sorry." He sighed. "Well, maybe we should grab Ron and see what he thinks? You'll have to pretend you didn't come with me, he'll be mad if you don't—"

"I don't know," she interrupted. "What if he sees something as important as we did? This mirror's probably bad for people to see. You know, false hope and everything."

"Ron has a family," Harry reminded her. "And a good life. What more could he see? He'll probably just see himself with a lot of gold, or something."

She frowned. She still didn't like the idea, but Harry seemed keen on it. "Okay," she said, "fine. But I'm just going to go back to our room. I don't think I want to deal with this." But she kept her gaze on the mirror and her father, warm expression in his eyes, not at all the expression of a murderer… Finally she turned her back on him.

* * *

She hadn't noticed at the time, but her necklace had lit up about twenty times. She noticed when she was in the hallway, trying to see on her way back without _being _seen; Harry had stayed behind. Her necklace lit the way, but her heart was pounding. How could Filch not catch her?

But he didn't. She apologized to the Fat Lady, who was so tired that she swung open without a fight. Once Ellie was safely inside, she opened her locket and saw a dark blur that was Fred's worried face. Probably knowing she wouldn't want audio, he had sent a message in type.

_Wtf r u doing?_

She laughed silently. She'd taught Fred Muggle slang and shorthand, and he used it in their jewelry-speak all the time. She couldn't stand it for most people, but it was cute when he did it. Before she could come up with a response, though, she heard a very loud, spastic person running down the boys' staircase.

"Ellie!" shouted Fred.

She frowned and turned around. "How'd you know I was here?"

He glared at her, and she remembered he could see her in the locket, too. "What have you been doing? You went into the library with Harry—" he said this with some distaste "—and then you disappeared! And then some weird room just appeared—"

"What are you _talking _about?" she snapped. The locket wouldn't have shown him anything except once she opened it.

He sighed and pulled out a scrap of parchment. "The Marauder's Map," he said with a second heavy sigh, and handed it to her. "Remember?

She had to stare at it for several seconds to grasp what it was. She had seen it before, of course, when they tried to duel Draco; but she had never interpreted what it was. It was a map of Hogwarts with countless black dots, and next to them very small scribbles of peoples' names. The dots were mostly still, but a few were moving. When she read more closely, she saw _Severus Snape _moving at a speedy pace.

"Whoa," she finally said.

"Okay," he said, snatching it back. "What happened? Why didn't you answer all those times I… glowed you? You only just opened it once you got back."

"I didn't notice," she said honestly. "Sorry. We tried to escape Filch, so we went through this hallway and this door, and there was this room with this mirror…"

"English?" he asked urgently.

She sighed. "It's a mirror that shows what you love, or what you want, or something, I don't know. Anyway, I'm fine, but it was… weird."

He finally seemed to calm down, and he led her over to the sofa so they could sit. "What'd you see?"

"Well, Harry saw his parents. I guess I did too—well, I saw my dad."

He was silent for several seconds. "Was he, er…?"

"I don't think he was in jail," she replied, assuming what he meant. "He looked really clean, healthy, happy. He had a lot of emotion. It wasn't like a picture. He moved and smiled and recognized me."

She saw the look in Fred's eye that was very pitying, and she didn't like it.

"Look, whatever, it's not a big deal," she said. "It wasn't real."

"I know." He sounded hesitant. "Sorry I flipped out. I'm not used to my friends going places without me. At least, y'know, you're like family, and I guess Ron does whatever, but you being out in the middle of nowhere was like George being in the middle of nowhere, and George being in the middle of nowhere is bad enough."

She laughed. "Okay. Next time I go out in the middle of nowhere, I'll invite you."

He smiled. "Good."

* * *

Ellie felt caged over the next few days. By Friday (their last break day; class resumed on Monday), she still hadn't had any conversations with Harry about searching again. She wasn't sure how Ron had taken the news—in fact, Harry seemed to be avoiding her.

Fred and George constantly asked Ellie to take them to the room, but she felt mixed desires about it. She wanted to go back and see everything, but she also wanted to avoid it. She felt like seeing her father again would only make her want to find him more, and she knew she shouldn't go looking for a murderer, even if it was a murderer who had raised her for two years.

Hermione arrived on Saturday, and to Ellie's surprise, she seemed much more open to a friendship with Ellie. Apparently spending the holidays with her family had cheered her up quite a bit.

"Oh, it was brilliant," said Hermione enthusiastically. "Showing my parents all the magic I've learned, and going back to a life with Muggles, it was amazing."

Ellie smiled. "That's great, Hermione," she said honestly. "It was fun here, too."

"Yeah, I want to hear all about it. Can we go upstairs?"

Ellie nodded and followed her up to their dorm room, where Hermione didn't even bother to unpack. "Harry seemed really distracted. He was talking to Neville surprisingly enthusiastically."

"Really?" Ellie asked, a little surprised. None of the other boys seemed to take Neville very seriously. "I hadn't noticed. I mean, of course, _some _things did happen over break…"

"Yes?" Hermione asked, pulling her bushy hair back in a ponytail.

Ellie shrugged. "And… we found out some things. For one thing, we found out that the Philosopher's Stone was created by Nicholas Flamel, and that it makes the owner immortal."

Hermione nodded eagerly. "Excellent!" she said quickly. "I thought I'd heard something like that. Wasn't sure what, of course. Did you learn anything more? Where it might be? Whether Snape really is involved?"

"Not really," Ellie admitted. "Harry hasn't really spoken to me since—that night."

"That night?" Hermione repeated, sitting down on her bed. Ellie followed suit; they were alone. "What happened?"

"We found a mirror," Ellie explained slowly. "It showed… things."

"Things," Hermione repeated in a way that made Ellie feel very small.

"Yes," Ellie said, "things. Things—_people_—from our pasts. Like Harry's parents, and my dad. But they were all young. I mean, that wasn't my dad as of now, not if he's really in Azkaban."

"Really in Azkaban?" Hermione asked. "Where else would he be?"

"I don't know. I'm not saying he isn't in Azkaban. All I know is that in that mirror, he was the way he was when I was a kid. I don't even remember him, but… I just recognized him, you know?"

Hermione nodded. "All right. So what do you think it meant?"

"I don't know. I don't know what it'd be for, either. But it was there."

"Well, I think we need to talk to Harry to know everything," Hermione decided. "And maybe Ron's seen it, and he can tell us what he saw—whether it's always parent-related, or whatever it may be."

"You don't want to try it?"

Hermione shook her head. "No. I'm pretty happy. I don't want to discover there _is _something I want and bring myself down about it."

Ellie stared at her for a second. "You know, you're not just book-smart," she said after a second. "That was really, I don't know, wise."

Hermione blushed, but looked touched. "Thanks. So, back to Harry, then?"

Ellie nodded and got up, feeling tired as she headed back down the stairs.

* * *

Neville turned out to be a very big help.

"Sure, I know who Nicholas Flamel is," he said eagerly later that night, when Ron, Hermione, Harry, and Ellie were all with him in the common room and had it to themselves. "He's got a wizard card. I've got one in my room, if you'd like to see it."

Ellie frowned. "Don't know if that would help. Is there anything you can tell us?"

Neville shrugged. "Didn't say much. He's apparently a really good wizard, Order of Merlin and all that. The card said he's hundreds of years old, or something, but I'm not sure if that's right."

"Could be," Hermione said, raising her eyebrows at Ellie.

"Could be," Harry agreed, looking surprised that she knew. "Anything else, Neville?"

He considered, then nodded. "Think so. It said on the card his allies, or something like that, and it said he was close with Dumbledore. I thought that was interesting—Dumbledore's card's much more popular, honestly."

Ron glanced at Harry, and then Ellie and Hermione. His look was disappointed; obviously he'd been hoping for more. Harry, however, seemed interested.

"Thanks," Harry said. "That's all, then?"

Neville looked embarrassed and ashamed. "It was just a small little card," he said quietly. "And I admit, I don't have a great memory, in case you didn't notice."

Ellie laughed, then blushed. "Sorry."

He shook his head. "It's fine. Sorry I couldn't help you more. Why are you interested?"

"No reason," Harry said quickly. "Just studying. Extra credit, you know. Good night, then." He turned away and walked up the boys' staircase with Ron, leaving Neville with Ellie and Hermione.

"Thanks for that," Ellie said uncomfortably.

"Sure," said Neville. "I know Harry never ended up fighting Malfoy that night, but I did hear about it. It was nice of him to accept the duel. I know it had to do with the Remembrall, which was my fault. Figured helping him out was the least I could do."

"Ha!" Ellie said, surprising the other two. "I knew there was something I've been forgetting lately. Bugging Draco. What time is it?"

Hermione glanced at her watch. "Eleven thirty."

Ellie frowned. "All right, soon, don't let me forget. So, let's go and bug Harry. He can't get away with ignoring us forever."

* * *

Harry turned out to be mad at Ellie for telling Hermione, but he tried not to show it. Ron seemed excited by everything, and while Hermione tried to hide it, so did she. Ellie wasn't sure how to feel, but she felt the same mixed-up desire and resentment towards the mirror. Finally, on Sunday night, she joined Harry.

"Please," she said when they were arguing in the common room at about ten at night. "Please, please?"

He sighed. "Look, I admit I shouldn't be doing this. It's guilty pleasure. But I can't let you, too. It's different with me. At least I know, I know my parents are gone, it's just imaginary."

"I know my dad's not real!" she said defensively. "Or, rather, the real that's attainable. It's not like the mirror will make me go looking for him, Harry. Please?"

He sighed. "Fine," he said. "But it's not real, I know that and I know you know it, too."

"Whatever," she said, honestly a bit annoyed. She ducked under the cloak with him and went through the portrait the way they had before. And while she felt excited about seeing her father again, a part of her also felt reluctant. It felt forced, and she didn't like it.


	11. Severus Sleuthing

**Chapter 11: Severus Sleuthing**

School was back in full blast, and while most people complained about it, Ellie loved it. She loved the distraction from the drama and pain of facing her father's reflection, and most importantly, she loved Quidditch.

She and Oliver hadn't confronted the happenings at the dance, but he was still enthusiastic around her. All the girls on the team noticed it, and while they rarely talked to her outside practice, practice had plenty of time.

"He's always staring at you," Katie said enviously. "I mean, he's not my type, but I'm still jealous."

"Yeah," Angelina agreed, "I don't know how you stand him sometimes, but I bet it's worth it to have a guy like him like a girl like you." She blushed. "Not that there's anything wrong with you! Just that you're young."

Ellie laughed. "I know. Way too young, really. Twelve versus fifteen. Or is he sixteen?"

"Fifteen," Oliver said from behind them, a slightly cocky grin on his face. "What's three years, anyway?"

"Hardly three," Angelina reminded him. "Five, if you consider it year-wise. You know, first year, fifth year."

Ellie glared at her, but Oliver seemed much more cheerful about the subject. "Fact remains," he said calmly. "So, who's ready to actually play Quidditch?"

Harry, who had been standing a few feet away with the twins, was the first to grab his broom. Ellie separated herself from the other Chasers and put in a quick word with the twins as she got on.

"What'd he say?" she asked. "I don't think he knows you know."

"About your Philosopher's Stone obsession?" asked George. "He doesn't. And we didn't tip him off. He'd probably kill you, seems like the super-heroic-wannabe type."

"He's a cool kid, though," said Fred. "For a first year. You know how we hate the rest of 'em."

She glared at him before receiving a harsh yell from Oliver: "Are we socializing or playing Quidditch?" But it was accompanied with a sideways grin and a tiny bit of a wink, so she forgave him.

Practice went well. As usual, the Chasers' chemistry almost outweighed Oliver's skills. Harry flew excellently, and as usual the Beaters were unbeatable.

"All right, next game's coming up in a February, that's less than a month," said Oliver. "We're going to put a lot of work into it, but if things go like they did last time, we'll be okay. Harry, obviously I'd prefer you to catch the Snitch faster, but it wasn't your fault last time. Did you ever find out what that was about?"

Ellie coughed not-so-discreetly. Harry turned scarlet.

"What?" Oliver asked. Everyone else looked interested.

"One of the teachers tried to kill him," Fred explained cheerfully. "Snape, actually, but don't tell him I said so. Actually, I should probably just shut my mouth, but…"

Ellie and George both hit him at the same time.

"All right, meeting same time tomorrow," shouted Oliver. "Harry, I guess there's nothing you can do if… was a teacher really jinxing you?"

He shrugged. "Pretty sure it was Snape. But there's no proof."

"Well, Ellie, will you be able to do that shield charm again if we need it?" Oliver asked her.

"I think so," she replied. "But as far as he knows, I definitely can. I doubt he'll try again."

Everyone seemed happy with the conditions of everything, and by the next week, they had no doubts in their minds that they would win.

* * *

"Do you think my shield would work while I play Quidditch?" Ellie asked Fred and George as they sat together at lunch. It was the second Monday after school had started, and Ellie was reluctantly settling back to the routine.

"Why would you need it?" asked George. "You're not planning on being attacked, are you?"

She laughed. "No, I just mean when people bump into me or whatever. I mean, couldn't I just sing while I ride, and I'd be safe?"

"Theoretically, yeah," Fred said, "but not in the game. Usually rules prohibit stuff like that."

She wrinkled her nose. "Makes sense, I guess. Still."

"What about your other awesome gift?" Fred asked excitedly. "You know, your whole dog thing."

She sighed. She was sick of her 'whole dog thing.' All she ever seemed to do was imagine Snape and fail miserably. Still, the idea of being able to morph got her excited every time, so she agreed to try.

Fred tried scaring her out of her mind (he failed miserably), and George tried coaxing her with thoughts of the fun things she could do. Neither succeeded, but just when she was about to give up, she remembered something.

When she changed that time, just before Snape came in, it wasn't because of fear. It was because of something else… recognition. It was the feeling she always got around him, the feeling of dreadful familiarity, the dark hair and lank expression she'd gotten used to back home.

And the idea sprang to her in an instant.

"I've got it!" she nearly shouted. "Erised! Okay, one of you can come with me, but hurry."

"Erised?" Fred repeated. "You mean the mirror? I've got dibs!"

'Dibs' was another of the terms she had taught him, one he'd mastered quickly. 'Bohemian' was his hardest, even after hearing _Bohemian Rhapsody _and watching _Rent._

"What about me?" George asked, pouting.

"Find Lee," Ellie suggested. "Every five minutes he says he has a new idea for a Quidditch technique. Maybe you should put it to good use?"

George glared at both of them before leaving.

"Okay," Ellie said, "I think if I focus on changing while I see my dad, the recognition or whatever it is I saw in Snape will redo and hit me. And then maybe I can remember how it feels and channel it into doing it other times. You know?"

He laughed. "Yeah. And I get to see what _I _see in the mirror."

She grabbed his arm and pulled him along. She had about half an hour before her next class, and she'd promised to meet Dean and Seamus outside the great hall, which meant she only had twenty or twenty-five minutes before she'd have to set off. She sped along quickly towards the library, then ducked her head around the restricted section.

"We can't go in there in broad daylight," Fred reminded her.

"I know. The door was accessible from out here, too, I think…" She craned her neck around, and pointed. "Ha! Got it. This way." She continued pulling him until they had reached the door, which she pulled open, then opened the next door. Sure enough, before she knew it, they were back in the room with the mirror.

"Whoa," he said when he saw it. "Okay. How does it work?"

She shrugged. "I guess you just walk up to it." She walked up with him, and seconds later, she saw her father. She instantly felt captivated, and forgot the reasons why she had even come here. He seemed to recognize her better now—or was it just her imagination? She wished he had the silver eyes and her mother had the dark ones; it would have been better… but they made him more handsome, in a way… There didn't seem to be anything wrong with him. How was it that now _everything _was wrong with him?

"I don't get it," Fred said, staring in the mirror. "I don't see anything special."

She frowned at him. "Really? That's weird—Ron said he saw himself with something special, and you're his brother. Uh, try taking a step closer. I would've thought it'd be you as a millionaire or something."

His expression changed, unreadably, and he nodded. "Okay. I see it now."

She shrugged. "What is it?"

"Just, y'know. Me and George, working at Zonko's."

"Huh. Didn't really picture that. I guess it makes sense, though." She'd never admit it, but she felt a tiny bit disappointed she wasn't in it. Hadn't she proven her worth by now? Would she not be invited if they went off to work? She was a good Charmer, wasn't she?

"So," he said, turning to look at her, as reluctant as she was to look away. "Try it."

She hoped her theory was right. She turned back to the reflection, her father's face, understanding, familiar—and tried. She tried to block out thoughts of him, to focus on thoughts of changing, and left the thoughts of resentment towards her father there. She resented him quite as much as Snape, or at least partially.

It worked. She felt herself shrinking, her fur growing, her face changing—but it wasn't painful. It was beautiful, in a way, like a kind of art.

"You did it!" he said excitedly, and it took her a minute to understand what he had said. She wondered if she'd be able to understand other dogs in this.

She tried walking, barking, even chasing her tail. When she looked back at Fred, he was cracking up.

"This is so cool," he said. "Dude, you have no idea how jealous I am."

She turned away from the mirror and focused on becoming human again. To her relief, she did. Thankfully noticing she was still wearing her robes, she smiled at him and said, "It's just okay."

"Really?"

"Nah, it totally rocks." She grinned.

He sighed overdramatically and glanced at his watch. "You still have time before you have to get to the Great Hall and meet your loser first-year friends. What do you want to do?"

She rolled her eyes. "I don't know. Walk around?"

Fred shrugged and followed her outside.

"When you turned into a dog," he said as they walked, "did your dad's reflection do anything? I mean, you know, did it… look surprised?"

She frowned, thinking back. "I didn't really notice. I was trying to understand English—it was harder than you'd think. Why?"

"It might tell you how old he is. If he didn't look surprised, it'd mean he already cast the spell."

"But does it matter how old he is?" she asked. "It's just a reflection—hadn't we decided it's not real?"

He hesitated for a second, looking reluctant. "You're right—it's not. Would be nice, though, wouldn't it?"

She felt guilty. Fred's reflection hadn't been impossible. "It's not like it _can't _be real," she offered. "I mean, Harry's can't, and I think mine's more in the past than the future, but yours can."

He looked uncertain, but they were interrupted by a loud and familiar voice.

"Weasley, have your parents adopted her yet, or do you not have the money?"

Fred spun around, looking furious. Draco had never had the nerve to pick on him before, and neither had anyone else.

"What's the problem? Cat got your tongue? Nah, I forgot—the only pets your family has are _rats_."

Fred moved to pounce on him, but Ellie held him back. "What're you going to do, Draco? Challenge him to a duel? But, wait—last time that happened, you chickened out."

Draco's face went very pale.

"Yeah, Crabbe, Goyle, I wouldn't hang out with him if I were you. But maybe you like pansies?"

Draco glared at her. "I didn't chicken out!" he nearly shouted. Ellie spotted Harry across the hall and sensed trouble, but she wasn't about to let Draco get away with insulting the Weasleys.

"Oh? Did your beloved Snape stop you? Funny, I'd expect him to encourage you."

"Ellie?" Harry asked, catching up to them. "What's going on?"

"I was just telling Draco here that he's a miserable coward, and all he has to hold over our heads is money, which is nothing compared to being a completely awful human being." She smirked a bit. Fred's expression was wide-eyed, and Harry and Ron looked excited. There were a few other people around them who looked, to say the least, entertained.

"Let's go," Draco said to Crabbe and Goyle, and stalked off bitterly.

"Wow, El, didn't know you had it in you," said Fred. But they were interrupted by Harry and Ron.

"That was awesome, Ellie!" said Ron enthusiastically. "Totally unexpected, but totally brilliant!"

"And now," Harry said with a grin, "we're totally late. For Potions. We should go."

* * *

Dean and Seamus had left without her, and she took her seat in between them grudgingly.

"We were worried we'd be late!" Seamus insisted. "Sorry."

She shrugged. "'S okay," she said, "because you're right. I _was_ late. Where's Snape?"

The rest of the room noticed it, too: Snape was nowhere to be seen. Usually he was there before the first person came in, and always reprimanded those who _were_ late.

"Saw you and Malfoy in the hallway," said Dean with a smirk. "Sounded interesting."

She rolled her eyes. "Draco. What a loser." They seemed surprised she referred to him as Draco, but she didn't bother explaining. She hated when people used last names. Especially hers, but 'Malfoy' wasn't great.

Snape came in a second later, giving the three of them a silencing glare before clearing his throat. "I was delayed for private reasons. Let us begin."

And so they began.

Snape seemed distracted enough to not reprimand them for talking, and Dean and Seamus were full of chatter. Ellie had almost forgotten that the match against Hufflepuff was coming up, but they hadn't, and neither had any of the Gryffindors; it was all they could talk about.

"Is Oliver going mad with intensity?" Seamus asked with a grin. "He's a pretty cool guy, but I hear he goes mental about winning."

She laughed. "Kind of. In a good way."

Dean raised his eyebrows, and Seamus chuckled. "Forgot you had a crush on him," Seamus teased.

She rolled her eyes, for the millionth time wishing the first years could be more mature and _old,_ but knew that wasn't the case. Besides, Fred and George may be third years, but they certainly weren't mature.

They walked her to practice later that day, and she waved goodbye, glad she'd had a chance to catch up with them. She was the first to the pitch, so it was just her and Oliver.

"Hey," he greeted. "How's your day been?"

"Good," she replied easily, sitting down next to him. "All right, anyway. I was late for Potions and didn't get in trouble. Always a good thing."

He laughed. "Yeah, Snape's been a bit odd lately, hasn't he?"

The thought struck her quickly, and she could tell it had struck him, too. "Harry," they both said at the same time.

"What?" Harry asked, walking up to them with his Nimbus in hand. "Talk about me often?"

She laughed. "Sorry," she said. "We were just noticing how odd Snape's been—you don't think it has anything to do with you, do you?"

"Like knocking you off your broom?" Oliver finished.

Harry shrugged. "I've noticed it, but I don't think he'll try that one again, not after he's seen Ellie's shield charm. Doubt anyone else will, either."

She grinned broadly. "So I didn't just save your life once, in essence, I saved it at least twice. Or will have saved."

Harry laughed. Fred and George ran up to them, and George said cheerfully, "No laughing when we're not around, it's not fair."

"Miss a punch line?" asked Fred.

"Just that I'm continuously being a heroine," Ellie explained easily. "No big deal." Finally everyone else came, and they got into the air and practiced. Again, they flew brilliantly.

* * *

The game against Hufflepuff wasn't as huge as the one against Slytherin, but Ellie still got nervous thinking about it. Hermione was a big help that morning, and Fred and George were surprisingly normal beforehand.

"Don't worry about it," said George. "They're easy. Not a great team. Not much to worry about."

"Plus Angelina and Katie have pretty much inducted you as their sister," Fred added. "You have great chemistry, you're a perfect team."

"Speaking of chemistry," George said when Oliver approached them.

"You guys ready?" Oliver asked nervously. "Now, remember everything we've practiced, you know how their Keeper isn't always as easy as you'd think—"

"_We know,_" Ellie and the girls said as they began to walk.

"We'll be fine," Angelina promised him. "We'll kick butt as usual."

Ellie was surprised by how much more calm she felt at the start of this game than she had at the start of the game against Slytherin. When she mounted her broom, the other two Chasers on both sides of her, Fred and George in row with her and Oliver giving her a sloppy grin, she felt more at home than nervous.

"Count of three," shouted Madam Hooch. "Three—two—one—" She blew her whistle, and everyone took off. Ellie tried to get the Quaffle, but wasn't discouraged when Katie charged at it and grabbed it. She tossed it to Ellie, who made a dive away from one of the Hufflepuff Beaters and threw it upwards to Angelina. Lee was ecstatic: "Great pass from Katie Bell, and a terrific Bludger dodge by Ellie Breth—Ellie. And now Angelina—"

Angelina scored a goal past the Keeper, and they were on their first point.

"Excellent start for Gryffindor!"

Ellie craned her neck to find Harry, worried about the possibility of Snape, but before she had the chance, she saw his fingers. They were closed around a gold ball.

Five minutes couldn't have passed. The crowd didn't seem to register what was happening until Harry had touched the ground and raised his hand in triumph. Finally Lee shouted, "Harry caught the Snitch! In just six minutes! This is _unbelievable, _got to be a record!"

Finally everyone realized what happened, and the crowd burst into surprised applause. A smile broke onto Ellie's face, and she joined the rest of the team in a huge hug that mostly circled around Harry.

"Ellie," he said, as soon as they broke apart. "Have you seen Snape?"

She shrugged. "No, why?"

"Well, because I'm worried!" he said, as if she were crazy. "He wasn't at the game, and the teachers are _supposed _to be at the games. He must be up to something."

She glanced in the stands. "Look," she said, pointing to the first figure leaving. "Quirrel's headed for the Forbidden Forest."

He sighed. "So am I. You coming?"

She glanced behind her, finding Fred and George, who were both high-fiving Lee. "Guys, I'll meet you back at the common room," she said. George nodded, but Fred gave her a suspicious look, which she ignored. Instead she succumbed when Harry tugged at her sleeve, and she followed him back toward Quirrel.

"It's forbidden for a reason," she whispered. "Just like the third floor."

"Well, it can't be too dangerous if Quirrel's headed straight in there," Harry reminded her. "I hope he's meeting Snape."

She nodded in agreement, and they reached the forest. Since they weren't cloaked and Quirrel wasn't too far ahead, they slowed down, trying to avoid crunching leaves.

Quirrel caught up with Snape a few minutes later. He looked nervous and apprehensive; Ellie and Harry, feeling the mood, squatted and hid behind the shadows of the fattest trees, desperate not to be seen.

"You—you asked to meet?" Quirrel asked with the usual stutter.

"I did. I want the truth, I want no lies, I want you to confess to your betrayal."

Ellie glanced sideways at Harry. Betrayal? Did this mean Quirrel was on the dark side too? Or had he come through for good, and that was why Snape was upset?

"Sev-Severus—there is nothing to confess!" he insisted. "You suspect me falsely."

"Consider yourself lucky," Snape snarled, "that they do not agree with me."

Quirrel said nothing.

"And as I suspect we are being followed," Snape added loudly, "we will continue this later."

Ellie bit her lip and dug her fingernails into her palms, but Snape didn't even look for them. She wondered if he knew about Harry's invisibility cloak, and was glad for its reputation if so. She wished they had it now.

But soon Quirrel and Snape were gone, and Ellie was finally left to exhale—and figure out what was going on.


	12. Dragon Tales

Sorry to take a long time again – I've just been really busy. Here's the next chap!

**Chapter 12: Dragon Tales**

February was rolling into March, and along with it the weather began to cool. Today Ellie pulled on a sweatshirt and a baseball cap, hair in a ponytail, feeling a surge of energy and empowerment. Over the past few weeks Snape had gotten quieter and quieter, a sign that was suspicious, but he had also not confronted Ellie once. She sensed his fear that she knew something, and didn't really mind it.

Ellie crossed her arms to prevent the chilly breeze from affecting her and began to jog down the Hogwarts grounds to find Hagrid's hut. If anyone could do explaining like this, it would be him.

When she finally reached the hut, however, Hagrid was in no mood to talk. He didn't greet her with much enthusiasm, and while she had to admit he'd never shown much favoritism to her, she hadn't expected what she got: sheer uninterested shortness.

"Hi, Ellie," he said, "now's not a good time."

"Oh, sorry," she said. "What would be?"

"Don't know. Coupla weeks? Ta." And he closed his door on her face.

She huffed a little and turned around, discouraged. She yanked off her hat and fixed her hair, noticing that her once-permanent silver streaks were fading. She was sure there was a spell that could fix it.

She ran back up the vast area of grounds and back into the castle late for History of Magic, where she slid in next to Dean. "Miss anything?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Binns was just droning about tardies. A bit ironic that he didn't see you."

She grinned. "Ironic and lucky."

He laughed, and they both tuned back into the lesson. But a few minutes later, he scribbled something down and passed the note to her.

_Did you find out why you had that shield?_

_You mean at the concert thing?_

_Yeah. Against Malfoy._

_I think it's a Perelli charm my dad put on me._

_Whoa. What's a Perelli charm?_

_It's where you're protected when you do what you love the most._

_So you love dances the most?_

_I love making music the most._

_Or you love the twins the most…_

She tossed the paper back at him playfully, unfortunately being seen and scolded by Binns. The truth was, that thought had crossed her mind: what if she loved being around certain people the most, and the only times she could be shielded were when they were with her?

"You want to practice that with me later?" she asked hopefully. "My shield. I could try singing, and you can see if you can get a spit ball at me."

He laughed. "Sure," he said. "Seamus has a slingshot, so we're set."

The class was dismissed, and everyone went back to the dorms. Ellie said good-bye to Dean and caught up to Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were walking surprisingly quickly.

"Hey," she shouted. Hermione slowed, and Harry and Ron grunted a bit but did the same. "Look, I talked to Hagrid earlier, but he was in a really foul mood."

Harry and Ron shouted at the same time. "_What_?"

"Well," she said in surprise, "I mean, he said now wasn't a good time and I should come back in a few weeks, and he slammed the door in my face."

"But why would you go without us?" Hermione asked in a more gentle way.

Ellie shrugged. "Didn't want him to feel bombarded by people, I guess. I don't know—didn't really even occur to me."

"It's just something we want to do together," said Harry. "Maybe we can go ask him together, tonight."

"Sure," Ellie said. "Sorry."

"It's fine," Harry and Hermione assured him, but Ron seemed more annoyed.

"Okay," she said. "Well… I'll catch up with you in the dorms tonight, then?"

"Why?" Ron snapped. "Want to hang out with your real friends? My bloody brothers?"

Ellie raised her eyebrows, but Hermione shoved him and muttered, "Shut _up, _Ron." She pulled Ellie aside, waving the boys off, and explained, "He's been really jealous of the twins lately. Apparently they're making money on some joke items, and they keep buying themselves things but not him. I don't really know."

Ellie nodded. "I figured it was something like that. Anyway, I'm meeting Dean, not Fred and George. I'm going to try to figure out this Perelli thing for real." They said the password to the Fat Lady, who swung open with a nod.

"Still haven't?" asked Hermione. "I suppose it'd be worthwhile—well, if you need me, I'll be in the library. See you tonight."

Ellie smiled and waved, and then put her things down and searched the room. She found Dean in one corner, conveniently in conversation with Fred and George.

"Oi," she greeted. "You ready now?"

"Ready?" Fred asked. "Him? What about me?"

"Shield stuff," explained Dean. "It should probably be me instead of you two."

"Why?" demanded George. "We can make music, too."

Ellie glanced at Dean and sighed. "It's not really about music," she explained uncomfortably. "It's more about a lack of—erm—look, I'll see you later, okay?" She grabbed Dean's arm and yanked him away. She didn't want to explain to them that her favourite thing might be spending time with them.

"I guess you're embarrassed?" Dean asked in slight confusion.

"Something like that," she admitted. "I mean, you know, sometimes people have friends, and they're not sure who values whom more. You know?"

"I know. But you know they completely adore you, right?"

She sighed and blushed a bit. "Thanks," she said, and hoped he was right; she completely adored them. "Anyway, uh, I guess I'll just sing something—fast. Do you have that slingshot?"

He grinned and held it up.

"Okay," she said, "er, I'll do… _The Tide Is High. _It's, you know, easy." Blushing madly, and feeling incredibly awkward, she began to sing. He grinned and tormented her by waiting a few seconds too long, but lifted the slingshot and shot her with a spitball. Sure enough, a weak shield ricocheted it back off.

"Wow," she said, "music, not twins."

He laughed. "I actually assumed it was twins."

She heaved a sigh. "I did, too. Anyway, I'm glad it's not. Thanks so much. Sorry to torture your ears and all. Are you going back?"

"Nah, I've got to go to the library. Got to reread _Charms You Ought to Know but Unfortunately Aren't Taught._ It's supposed to be extra help."

She laughed. "That's a real book?"

"Hey, not all of us are as good as you!" he said defensively, but he finished it off with a laugh. "All right, see you later." He walked away with a wave.

* * *

Ellie was planning on visiting Hagrid before hours were out, but Harry and Ron had promised to help Seamus with homework, and Lavender and Parvati had decided to give Hermione a make over. Half laughing, Ellie found her seat in the common room with Fred and George.

"So, what were you doing earlier?" asked George. "With Dean?"

"I told you, trying to make my shield work. See how it does."

"And?" asked Fred.

"And, it was just making music." She shrugged. "It was good to do, anyway. For practice."

"I still don't see why you were confused, though," said George. "Didn't we already know it was music? Or was Dean just looking for a chance to hang out with you?"

She rolled her eyes. "I thought it could be other things. I don't know. Anyway, change of subject. That, or I can help with Hermione's makeover…" She glanced up at Hermione, who was wincing so much that the girls' pathetic attempts with eyeliner and mascara were getting everywhere.

"Oh, it'll be much better if you stand still!" Lavender insisted.

"You don't even wear makeup!" Hermione said shrilly. "I'm not your Barbie doll!"

Fred and George both started cracking up, and Ellie had to try very hard not to do the same. "So, anything interesting happen lately?" she asked, lying back on the couch and almost subconsciously leaning on Fred's shoulder.

He flinched for a second, but relaxed. "Nothing, really. We've been selling some of our gadgets, which is always good—but still. I feel like there's a world of possibilities."

"That we aren't taking," added George, who didn't seem left out; he rested an elbow on Ellie's free shoulder.

"Well, there's always time. Four years for you, anyway. Six for me."

"That's right," Fred said, frowning. "I always forget the age difference."

"I don't. I mean, I like most of the people in our year—Gryffindors anyway—but I just feel so out of place with them."

"Out of place?" asked George. "Like how?"

"Like…" She tried to think of a proper answer but couldn't, so she stood up and said, "Parvati, Lavender, can I help you?"

"Sure, El!" Lavender gushed. "You _never _do girly things with us."

Ellie grinned back at Fred and George before accepting the makeup from Lavender. She wiped all of it off Hermione's face and then started over. In five minutes, Hermione was a knockout.

"Hang on, don't make fun of me, but I found a spell for bad hair days, if you're interested. Have to cut off a hunk, though, so don't use it every day."

Hermione's eyes widened. "Don't cut off a hunk of my hair!"

But Ellie pulled out a pair of scissors from a desk drawer and snipped off a tiny layer underneath. Then she dropped the hairs into a bowl, tapped the bowl with her wand, and said, "_Staraglio_!"

The room immediately went quiet. Hermione was no longer the young, frizzy-haired girl she usually was, but was a girl who looked at least fourteen and had straight, shining, slightly darker hair.

"Nice, El," George whispered. Fred nodded.

Hermione, turning a very bright shade of red, mumbled, "Well, Ellie, we ought to be going—Ron, Harry, are you coming?" She grabbed her jacket and ran out of the common room as quickly as possible. Ellie followed.

"Didn't know that was possible," Ron muttered when he caught up to Ellie. Harry was next to him, cloak in hand. "I mean—de-frizzing hair. Not Hermione's in particular."

Ellie laughed. "Guess it is. But not on a daily basis—she'd lose all her hair if she did it that way."

They caught up with Hermione in the hallway. She was staring at her reflection in a suit of armor.

"I don't see how you stand it, Ellie," Hermione said quietly.

"Stand what? Being awesome? I know, it's hard to handle," Ellie said with a grin, but Hermione cut her off.

"No, I mean, being so _pretty, _all the time. Look at me. I hate it. It's like succumbing to society's ideas, and having guys stare at you…"

"Why do you refer to _me_?" Ellie asked in surprise. "I mean, I'm decent-looking, but I'm _twelve._"

"Ellie. You have no idea how gorgeous you are. Oliver Wood can't take his eyes off you. Cedric Diggory was talking about you at lunch the other day."

Ellie started to ask about that, but refrained. "Um, this is really awkward," she said, "so… let's stop talking quietly and start paying attention to them." Harry and Ron, who had clearly been eavesdropping, laughed and walked back over to them just as they reached the doors to the grounds outside. It wasn't after hours yet, but they didn't have permission to go to Hagrid's at this time, so they slipped under the cloak.

"Wow," Hermione said. "We don't really fit…"

"I have an idea," said Ellie cheerfully, and she ducked back out, then focused on the faces of Snape, her mother, and her father. She focused on familiarity and family—and dreaded Potions teachers—and sure enough, she transformed into a dog.

"Wh—wh—whoa!" Ron gasped. Harry and Hermione's expressions were quite as shocked.

Ellie barked cheerfully and ran alongside them to Hagrid's hut. When they got there, Ron lifted a hand to knock. When Hagrid opened the door to see a dog, his eyes widened in surprise.

"Well, hi, yeh're a cute one, aren't yeh?" he asked, kneeling down and offering a hand. Ellie, trying not to laugh, let him pet her. She wasn't sure what laughing sounded like in dog.

The other three slipped off the robe, and Hagrid jumped. "What're yeh doing? Scared the daylights outta me, yeh did, can' go around—"

"Can we come in?" Harry interrupted.

Hagrid sighed and stood back. Ellie barked and followed them, not bothering to change back. She wanted to keep her identity a secret, at least for now; it could come in handy.

"What's that?" asked Ron, pointing to something that was hanging above the fireplace.

"That's, uh, well…" He looked eager to change the subject. "What're yeh here for, then?"

"To talk to you," said Hermione, calmly and collectedly, "about the Philosopher's Stone. Yes, we know there's a stone, yes, we know it was made by Nicholas Flamel, and yes, we know it's being guarded by Fluffy."

Hagrid stared at them for several seconds, until the kettle started to rattle. He picked up an oval-shaped object from it and set it on the table.

"How," he asked, "do yeh know all tha'?"

"Lots of ways," Harry said. "We just want to know how to get it. And we want to know who _else _knows how to get it. Because someone's going to try."

"Who?" Hagrid demanded, and shook his head. "No one, that's who. No one's stupid enough ter try!"

"Snape is!" Harry blurted out. Knowing what would happen, dog-Ellie burrowed her head under her paws. She again stifled laughter when Hagrid gave her a confused look.

"Professor Snape," Hagrid sighed, "is not tryin' to steal the stone. He's protectin' it!"

"What?" Hermione and Ron demanded. But they were interrupted by a strange cracking sound, and their heads turned back to the oval. Ron was the first to realize what it was.

"Hagrid! That's—a dragon's egg?"

Hagrid stared down at it for a second, then said, "And anyway, no one knows how ter get past Fluffy. Well, almost no one. 'Cept the guy who gave me this." He nodded to the egg. When Harry started to talk, Hagrid shushed him; a tiny beak was pointing out.

"Tha's my boy!" Hagrid said in a baby voice. "C'mon, yeh can do it, jus' a little more…"

Ellie watched in amusement as Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared a look of annoyance.

"Beautiful, isn't he?" Hagrid asked when the process was finished. "Jus' gorgeous, aren't you, Norbert?" He smiled and began to pet the tiny, admittedly cute, creature, which then spit out a chalk of flame.

Ellie stared at it in fascination. She shouldn't be surprised, because she'd learned about dragons in History of Magic, but she was. She couldn't believe they were real, let alone this small as babies.

"Who gave you the dragon's egg, Hagrid?" asked Harry.

"Dunno his name, an' he kept his hood on," Hagrid admitted. "But he was righ' friendly. Told me the trick with any beast was to calm him. Like Fluffy—play him a tune, he falls right to sleep."

Ellie immediately sat up. Hermione, Ron, and Harry immediately stood up.

"Shouldn't'a said that," Hagrid muttered.

"Thanks, Hagrid," Hermione said. "Good luck with, um, Norbert." She gave a girlish grunt (Ellie wasn't sure what it signified) before darting out of the house, followed shortly by Ron and Harry. Ellie barked a farewell to Hagrid before chasing after them. She stayed a dog through the castle, just in case.

* * *

They were bombarded by students the second they entered, Ellie back in human form. Apparently Fred and George weren't the only ones who worried.

"Where were you?" Seamus and Dean demanded when they saw Ellie. "The Fat Lady wouldn't tell us, just said you'd be in trouble when you got back."

Ellie shook her head. "I told her Dumbledore wouldn't care, and she said it didn't matter, she cared, so I offered to go and ask him and she said it was fine, never mind."

Seamus laughed. "I ought to do that sometime."

She grinned.

"Well?" asked another voice from behind her. "Where were you?"

She turned to see who had spoken, and her smile widened when she saw Oliver. It was rare that she saw him outside of Quidditch now, and since it was already March, he was stressed about studying for his OWLs.

She excused herself from Dean and Seamus, and ignored Fred and George's teasing looks, to find some privacy in the corner with Oliver.

"It wasn't a big deal," she explained. "We just wanted to talk to Hagrid. Didn't have time during the day."

"Really?" he asked, looking a little tired.

"Yeah," she said. "Oliver, what's wrong?"

His mouth twisted slightly, and he looked like he was having a hard time saying whatever he wanted to say. "Look, there's a lot of…" He cut off and looked around. "Can we go up to my room? No one'll be there."

She shrugged and nodded. She trusted him enough not to suspect anything, so she followed him up the stairs to the boys' dorms, hoping no one would notice.

He took a seat on his bed, and after a moment of hesitation, so did she. She waited for him to speak.

"Okay," he said, and sighed. "You know how I feel about you. I really like you. I think you're funny and great to be around, and really pretty, and… just… great."

She didn't fully grasp the 'really pretty;' despite Hermione's insistence, she didn't believe it. She had good hair and good eyes, but she was too thin, too flat, and had as much acne as any preteen. Still, she let him continue.

"Anyway, I've heard people saying some things, and they've gotten me thinking."

"People?" she repeated.

"Yeah. You know, Slytherins, Ravenclaws. Saying I'm too old for you and everything. Nothing serious. But am I? I can't judge it. In so many ways you seem older, but in so many ways you're much younger."

She bit her lip and said nothing.

"And what about…" He shrugged. "The list is pretty long. Fred? George? Dean, Seamus, Ron, Harry—you're around them as much as you are me."

"But they're just my friends," she insisted. "Really."

He nodded. "Okay. But we still have our other problem."

"I don't think it's a problem," she said calmly. "I think it's a situation." She sensed amusement in his eyes, but she ignored it and continued. "I think we should play it out and see what happens. If things are too weird, we can back out, no hard feelings. Maybe you'll change your mind in a few years."

He raised an eyebrow. "I graduate in two."

"Two and a half," she said in her defense. "But… yeah."

He laughed. "You know what I really want to do?"

She shook her head.

"Kiss you." And he did.

* * *

so like, review and I'll finish that cliffhanger. (:


	13. Canine Assistance

Thanks for the reviews!

**Chapter 12: Canine Assistance**

It wasn't what she had expected at all.

For one thing, he went too far, too fast. Ellie didn't scare easily, and was mature for her age, but even then she wasn't sure she liked it. Within a beat he had gently pressed his tongue against her lips, and she felt like she had no choice but to comply. It was tender for a few seconds, but she could tell he had experience, and was looking for some snogging she wasn't prepared for.

She pulled away and glanced up at him, catching her breath. It felt wrong, very wrong.

"Sorry," he said. "It was too fast, I know, sorry."

"No," she said, "it's not that."

"No?"

"I mean, it _is _that. But it's not that it was too fast—I don't know if I can do this." She wiped her lips and ran a hand through her dark hair. "I know what I just said, but—that wasn't—I'm not used to it," she said. "I won't be, not now, not for a while."

He looked strained. "I don't have to push you," he insisted.

"Oliver," she said. She shook her head. "I'm not ready. And I don't mean for making out—I just don't think I'm ready for a boyfriend yet."

"But you just said…"

She felt overwhelmingly hot, and felt an unexplainable urge to collapse into a hug in the comforting arms of one of the twins. She felt perfectly safe around George, and Fred understood her more than anyone else. That was what she needed. Not this. "I know. But—it was fun, flirting, talking. But I think that's all I can do. For now. For this year at least."

He nodded. "Okay. I get it." He didn't look like he did.

"I'll talk to you tomorrow?" she asked, standing up.

He nodded again, his eyes on the ground. She ran out as quickly as possible.

* * *

"It's your own fault," Fred said stubbornly.

She had come straight to their room, where luckily only the twins had been sitting. George was sympathetic and acted as she had hoped, but Fred was surprisingly stern with her.

"It is not!" she insisted. "I just wanted to talk! I didn't know he'd—he'd—"

"Try and jump your bones?" George asked with a grin.

She glared at him. "That's not funny at all," she said stiffly. "This is so stupid. I always hated how young I was, and now it's gotten even worse."

"I don't get it," said George. "If you like him, why didn't you snog him?"

"Because!" she nearly shrieked, then quieted when she remembered they weren't far from the other boys. "Because I _am _young. Kissing is something that means something to me, and yeah, it scares me, and it's not something I plan on doing on a regular basis."

Now their roles were restored; George looked confused but calm, and Fred looked understanding.

"Let's just talk about something else," she said, and shuddered. "Like what I was doing at Hagrid's."

"Okay," said George. "What _were _you doing at Hagrid's?"

"Asking about Fluffy, and Flamel, and the Stone. I didn't get much I didn't already know, except two things—the important one is, he's told us and someone else how to get past Fluffy."

"Really?" asked Fred. "Who else?"

"He doesn't even know—some stranger in a pub. It sounds pretty suspicious."

"Not on Hagrid's part, but it does," George agreed. "So what do we do, then?"

"I don't know. I've got a feeling Harry and Ron want to go down the trapdoor, and I think Hermione would if they did. I would, I guess, but I wish I could have some more proof it's Snape."

"Wait," Fred chimed in. "You said he told you two important things."

She grinned. "Yeah. The other's that he has a baby dragon."

"_What_?"

"Named him Norbert—I was there when he was hatched. He's really cute, actually. Seemed friendly. I've never seen a dragon."

"El, those things are illegal to have as pets," George said, "and for good reason."

She frowned. "Really? Hagrid doesn't seem like the lawbreaking type."

"We'd know," said Fred. "Our brother Charlie works with them—when they grow up, they're murderous beasts. Not the kind you'd want to have in the Hogwarts backyard. You've got to talk to him, El."

"Me? Tell Ron to!"

"Why would I tell Ron to?"

"Why would you tell me to?"

He grinned. "All right, I'll tell Ron, then. But then I'll tell Charlie. Maybe you can get the dragon to him somehow. I'm sure he'd come for the occasion."

"To Hogwarts?"

"It's an idea," George agreed, but he was interrupted when Lee walked in with another boy. Both were in their pajamas, and looked annoyed to see Ellie.

"Sorry," she said to them, and glanced back at the twins. "I'll talk to you tomorrow morning, okay?"

They nodded, and she left with a heavy sigh.

* * *

She fell asleep quickly the next few nights. After the drama with Oliver and the tension about the Philosopher's Stone, she looked forward to the rest. March was drawing to a close as exams drew nearer, and with the added bonus of Hermione obsessing over Charlie and Norbert, life was exhausting.

"We can't make Hagrid give him away," Ron said plainly.

"Yes, we can!" Hermione insisted.

"It's better that than have him break the law, anyway. At least this way Hagrid and the dragon will both be safe and happy," Ellie explained.

"What if Hagrid's never happy again?" Ron demanded.

Ellie and Hermione both exchanged amused glances.

They wrote a letter to Charlie the next week, and he responded within days that he could arrange for a secret broomstick pickup in April, as long as they could sneak out and tell no one. Hermione and Harry had been working on Hagrid, while Ron refused. Ellie spent most of her time between classes, practicing morphing, and hanging out with the twins. She had only had Quidditch practice once in the past two weeks, which seemed to signal that Oliver was trying to avoid her.

By the time April came, she had a feeling Harry, Ron, and Hermione were avoiding her again. She could tell they were closer with each other than she was with them; they were like she was to the twins. She was okay with that, but these things she'd learned with them weren't things she could ignore. She hated not knowing the things she felt like she had to know.

"How do you know they're not just lazy?" Fred asked as she vented in the common room.

"Because Hermione's one of them," she explained, "and it's not like _she's _lazy."

"Still, they probably haven't found out anything about the Stone—they're not stupid enough to go down the trapdoor for no reason," said George. "If they did, it'd have to be when they think Snape's going."

She nodded. "You're right. But what about Norbert?"

"We haven't heard from Charlie, and he already told us about it," Fred offered. "Ellie, don't worry about it, I'm sure they'll tell you." But if the sounds of footsteps and voices were any indication, he was wrong; Harry, Ron, and Hermione were all talking about breaking rules.

"…roof of the Astronomy Tower," Hermione said, then stopped short when she saw Ellie.

"Wow," Ellie said. "You're meeting Charlie on the roof of the Astronomy Tower?" She was taking a lucky guess, but judging by Hermione's pale expression, she was right.

"You shouldn't come," Harry said gently. "There isn't enough room under the cloak, and you've done enough for us. And your dog disguise won't be a disguise for long if you keep using it."

She shrugged. "Could be, if no one knows it's me. I could be the Hogwarts mascot."

"But McGonagall and Dumbledore know. And maybe some other teachers. I'm telling you, save it for the really important occasions."

She wanted to keep fighting, to earn a place, but she didn't bother. She could go on her own, at least, and make sure that everything was okay.

"Tell me if you need me," she said shortly, and walked coolly away and up the stairs, a little frustrated. She noticed with a smirk at her final look back that the three of them, especially Hermione, looked very guilty. Fred and George seemed to be giving them a hard time.

When she got to her room, she started to dress for bed, but was interrupted by a loud _clank _on her window. Parvati and Lavender, who were gossiping, hadn't heard it. She opened the window and then ducked very quickly to avoid the two owls who cascaded in.

One was Ringo, she was fairly sure; he was fighting a scrawny, dark, unfamiliar-looking owl very fiercely. She noticed that the point of interest for both was the letter that the unfamiliar one was carrying.

She sighed and took both Ringo's and the other's letters from their legs. She glanced at the envelopes for several seconds before she comprehended what she was seeing. On one, in flourished, neat handwriting, read _Ellie. _On the other, in the exact same handwriting, was _Severus. _Both were her mother's.

She started to open Snape's, but something told her not to; something wouldn't let her.

"Ellie?" asked Parvati quietly. "You okay?"

Ellie stared at the letters for a second before putting both away. "Yeah," she said, "fine."

* * *

She avoided opening the letter the next day, and instead focused on the constant mystery that was Ron, Harry, and Hermione. She noticed from the second she walked into the common room that something was going on.

They were talking in hushed voices, and stopped when she walked over to them. She sat down and said with a sigh, "Either you were talking about something you didn't want me to hear, or you were talking about _me._"

"No!" Hermione said quickly. "We just got bored of the subject."

"Huh." Ellie nodded. "All right, then you won't mind me sitting with you?" Not waiting for an answer, she pulled out a Muggle magazine and sat with them, a grin playing at her face. She knew she was being stubborn and annoying, but she was having some fun with it.

They sat uncomfortably until it was time for Charms, the first class of the day. Usually Ellie sat between Hermione and Harry, but she took a seat with Lavender and Parvati behind them so she could hear everything they were saying without them noticing. This was proven harder when Lavender and Parvati were squealing in her ears all through class.

Ellie did manage to catch some of it, though: whatever was happening was happening tonight. They had a plan for it, and it was to be just the three of them.

She spent all the breaks in between classes practicing transforming with the twins. She felt guilty about not telling them she was going to follow Ron, Harry, and Hermione, but she had a disguise, and they didn't.

"I think we should become Animagi," said Fred that night in the common room. Ellie was keeping a tight eye on the trio, waiting for them to leave. It was almost ten thirty by now, and the only ones left in the room were Ellie, Fred, George, and those three. "We've talked about it, but, I mean for real."

"I don't know," said George. "It's one thing to talk about, but another to act on. It's illegal—not rule-breaking, _illegal_—and dangerous, if it goes wrong. And it'll take ages."

"Guys, don't do that," she insisted. "I don't want you to get in trouble, and anyway, how obvious would it look if three random animals hung out together constantly?"

"It wouldn't be for a disguise," Fred insisted. "It would be for the fun of it."

She started to protest, but was interrupted by the nervous looks shared between Ron, Harry, and Hermione. They were ready. The three of them rose unsteadily, and Ellie swallowed hesitatingly.

"Bollocks," she said lamely. "I think I left my Charms book back in the Great Hall. I'll need that…"

"Too late now," George said, confused.

"Well, it's really important, I'll have to transform," she said shortly, and—once the three were safely gone—she did so, darting through the Fat Lady just before it closed. They knew what her Animagus was, but she was less worried about being seen as a dog than a human.

They were headed out toward Hagrid's hut again. She thought it was strange, but followed. She waited outside the door to his hut, and hid in the shadows when they emerged. She realized when she saw the lump in Hermione's hands what was going on: they were going to smuggle the dragon to Charlie.

Ellie was surprised they weren't caught. They weren't as quiet as they should've been—probably because they were trying to hide Norbert, who wasn't cooperating—and she was sure they were dead when they went up the stairs. She wished she had the Marauder's Map to check for teachers, but it wouldn't make a difference; she couldn't check it as a dog.

She followed them up the Astronomy Tower, and was panting by the time they reached the top. She considered going back to the dorms and leaving them to it, but she supposed they could use her help if they were caught. She wasn't sure how, but she reckoned the three were decent at improvising.

She watched with interest, hoping to catch a glimpse of the second-oldest Weasley brother, but all she could see was that he was about Fred and George's height, a bit wider. He had a nice voice, and seemed friendly. She watched him accept Norbert, and held her breath as he and his friends swooped off on their (very nice) broomsticks. Then she ran down the stairs as quickly as possible, before they saw her.

At the foot of the stairs were Filch and Mrs. Norris.

She barked loudly, and hearing herself even she got scared. She growled intimidating, and watched with pleasure as Mrs. Norris screeched and ran away. Filch took a few steps backward, looking nervous.

"Dogs," he muttered, "_dogs_! They got _dogs _at this ruddy school!"

She snapped her sharp teeth only a foot or two away from him, and he gave her an angry look before turning around. Exhaling with relief that the three of them had gotten her indication (the bark) that Filch was there, she followed, but they didn't get far before they were face-to-face with Fred, George, and Neville.

"Aha!" Filch ejaculated. "I knew it! My ears heard students, and my ears don't lie—"

"_Ears_, sir?" asked another voice. "I suppose your ears heard me tip you off…"

"Yes, well," Filch said, disregarding Draco's comment, "at any rate, I've got some bad kids to be reporting. Should've known it was you lot, and can't say I'm not glad I caught you…"

Fred and George exchanged amused glances. They didn't seem surprised or disappointed.

Neville, on the other hand, was shaking. "Sir, I was locked out, it wasn't my fault—"

"We'll let McGonagall decide," Filch said stiffly, which seemed to make Neville even more nervous. Fred and George, meanwhile, were shooting dog-Ellie nervous looks. _Where are they?_ Fred mouthed.

Ellie cocked her head behind her toward the stairs, and his widened. He shook his head and mouthed something, eyes cast behind her, and she spun around to see Ron, Harry, and Hermione running down the stairs.

"Good catch tonight," Filch said with a smirk. "Six. And maybe I should take the dog too?"

Ellie growled at him; his expression went back to being scared.

"Sir, it's not what you think," Neville stuttered. "They—they were just trying to help that dog. It was acting weird."

"Yeah, animals first!" Hermione said shrilly.

Filch's nostrils flared. "Excuses, huh? Guess we _will _have to take the dog… You two. Weasley twins. Take care of him."

Insulted that she was assumed male, she growled as Fred and George assumed their spots at her side. Filch smirked again before turning to lead them to Professor McGonagall.


	14. The Forbidden Forest

**Chapter 14: The Forbidden Forest**

All Ellie knew was that McGonagall would never trust her again if she found out about this. Neither McGonagall nor Dumbledore knew she was using her ability to her advantage, and she wanted it to stay that way. So, hoping he would forgive her, she gave Fred a light nip on the hand accompanied by a fierce growl before running away.

She transformed in a corner and ran up to them a second later as Ellie. She could tell by Ron, Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George's expressions that it was no surprise; Draco and Neville looked confused. She doubted they'd be able to tell what was going on, though, so she let it rest.

"What are you doing here?" Filch demanded.

She shrugged. "Looking for them. Where are we going?"

"To McGonagall's," Fred explained, as if she didn't already know. "Probably to get thousands of points deducted and a detention."

"Which is overreacting, but understandable, as there's eight of us," George added.

Ellie followed them up the stairs and to McGonagall's room, where they waited patiently outside of the door. About five minutes later, she showed up with her hair in a tight bun, dressed in her nightgown.

"Wh—what is the meaning of this?" she demanded.

"Sorry to wake you, Professor, but there are a lot of scoundrels—ahem, students—up after hours."

McGonagall's eyes flickered over all of them. "Well, you six I can understand," she said, gesturing to the two trios, "but Mr. Longbottom and Mr. Malfoy?"

"I was just tipping Filch off," explained Draco.

"And I wanted to make sure everything was all right!" Neville sputtered. "Plus once I left, the Fat Lady wouldn't let me back in."

McGonagall stared at them all for several seconds.

"Tolerance for being out of bed after hours," she finally said, "is low. Twenty points each for you six—complain and I'll make it fifty."

Ellie bit her lip.

"And all ten of you will receive detention."

"All ten?" Draco demanded. "But—Professor, I was just reporting—"

"Were you not up after hours, too, spying on them?" she interrupted.

Draco shut his mouth. Ellie had an urge to laugh, but she supposed it would hardly be appropriate.

* * *

Their detention was scheduled for the next week, but Ellie had enough to deal with the next day, especially starting with the twins' anger.

"Why wouldn't you tell us?" they asked the second she entered the common room.

"I didn't know what there was to tell," she insisted. "I just wanted to follow them. They've been keeping secrets from me, and I wanted to know what."

"So you told us you had to get your Charms book?" George demanded. "That's offensive."

"And degrading," Fred said, "and really… insulting." He looked more hurt than George. "I thought we were past that, El, I thought we told each other everything."

She felt incredibly guilty. "I know. I don't know why I didn't tell you." She honestly didn't. She trusted Fred and George completely, and she hadn't even considered telling them. Why? She supposed it must be more psychological—trust issues?

"Look," she said, "I'm really sorry. I don't even know what happened. It's like my instinct was to lie to you. It came naturally. It's a bit worrying, actually."

"Should be, if your instinct is to lie," George muttered. Fred looked worried.

"Look, I've got a lot of homework," she said, standing up. "Yes, that's the truth. I'll see you later. And we'll have plenty of time on Saturday for our detention."

* * *

Saturday came quickly, after a stream of Ellie avoiding the twins and the trio, mostly spending her time with Lavender and Parvati, who she quite honestly didn't like much. She didn't like her week at all, but when she met the twins in the common room, she could tell they were in forgiving moods.

"Let's just get this over with," George said. "If we stall, we'll probably cost Gryffindor another hundred and twenty points. It's made us so popular lately…"

"Please, people love you no matter what," Ellie said, rolling her eyes. "It's me they hate. Thanks for telling everyone it's my fault."

"That was all George," Fred said quickly. "Let's go." He led them out of the common room and down the hallway. They were supposed to meet in Hagrid's hut. As if they hadn't seen enough of it the past few weeks, Ellie mused to herself.

"So why didn't we wait for the golden trio?" asked George grumpily.

"Don't call them that," Ellie said. "They're not like that. And stop acting like I like them better than you—you know I don't."

"Do I?"

She sighed. They were almost at Hagrid's, and she didn't want to be having this ongoing row through their detention; it would be bad enough, whatever it was. "I don't," she said, "I was just mad that they were hiding something from me, and yes, I realize that's hypocritical—but you guys, you're my best friends, and I know _you'd _never make that mistake and you're loyal and great and I don't deserve you—"

"Ellie," Fred interrupted. He was beaming. "I think that's enough."

She sighed and smiled. "I'm really sorry." She turned to look at George. "To both of you."

He pouted for a few more seconds before smiling. "Oh, it's okay," he mumbled, and opened his arms for a hug. She smiled and hugged him, and Fred joined in, and she had never felt anything more safe and beautiful.

And then Filch told them they were spending detention in the Forbidden Forest, and the safety net shattered.

"It's not like you have anything ter worry 'bout," Hagrid said when he saw their expressions. Hermione, Neville, Draco, Ron, and Harry had joined them at that point, and were quite as stunned as Ellie. "Yeh'll be with me, an' with Fang. We'll take good care of yeh."

Ellie refrained from laughing. As someone who could actively be a dog, she could tell Fang was no brute.

"All righ', then, Ron, Hermione, yeh're coming with me. Draco, Harry, Neville, go on, take Fang if yeh'd like. Ellie, Fred, George, go on and search together."

"Search for what?" Fred asked cheerfully. He and George seemed to be the only ones okay with their instructions. "Lose a fingernail or something?"

Hagrid gave him a look. "No, yeh're searching for unicorns, and unicorns that have been hurt or slain. Any sign of unicorn blood, and yeh come right ter me. Got it?"

Ellie coughed loudly. "We—we're looking for dead unicorns?"

Hagrid sighed. "Dead or hurt. But it's important! Unicorn blood, it's very pure. Someone who drinks it…" He shuddered. "Well, it's very dangerous. Move along, now."

Ellie glanced at the twins nervously before forcing herself to move her feet and head west. Harry, Draco, and Neville turned right, and the other three went forward.

"Dead unicorn," she muttered. "I'll be scarred for life."

"Maybe you should change," George suggested. "Y'know, protect us. You're a pretty gutsy dog, y'know. Scared Filch quite a bit."

Fred shook his head. "No, don't, it could be dangerous. And anyway, we've got some good quality time, really. And a map, if we need to find the others fast." He grinned and held up the parchment she recognized as the Marauder's Map.

"Handy," she agreed. "So when you graduate, can you pass it on to me?"

"Suppose so," George said. "We won't have much use for it. When you graduate, give it to Ginny, though. I think she found it in our suitcases a few years back—she's always hinted about it."

"Yeah, but it's Ginny," Ellie said. "She's obsessed with anything remotely magical."

George laughed. "I swear, you might as well be a Weasley, you know enough about us. Except apparently Ron's been hiding secrets from you. I'll have to scold him."

She shrugged. "I have a feeling it's more Harry, being heroic and all. It was just a phase for me, though—I'll stop. I don't really care what they get themselves into. Okay, maybe if in involves the Stone, but I'll bring you if it does. If you want."

Fred frowned. "Honestly, the Stone doesn't interest me much. The teachers sound like they have a handle on it, and I don't see what's so important about it anyway. I don't quite believe Snape would steal it."

"Yeah, but Harry has some pretty good evidence," Ellie reminded him. "Anyway, I think it's worth going after. At least studying up on."

"No more communication breakdowns, though," said Fred, quoting the Zeppelin song she'd introduced him to. "If you find out anything or decide to do anything, we're in, too."

"But you just said you weren't—"

"Oi," George interrupted.

"It's for you," Fred explained. "Do too much with those newbies, you'll get yourself killed. Tell us, maybe we'll save your arse."

She grinned, but lost her grin as soon as she remembered where she was. "God, this place is creepy," she muttered.

"Let's move on to a happier subject," George suggested, looking around for any sign of silver blood. "Like… I don't know."

"Oliver," Fred offered. "Good old Oliver." He turned to Ellie. "How's Oliver?"

She rolled her eyes. "Good question. I have no idea, as he's completely avoiding me and I'm not too keen on seeing him, either."

George grinned. "Keen. You're funny, El."

She rolled her eyes again.

"He's avoiding you?" asked Fred, as if it was news.

She rolled her eyes. "How many Quidditch practices have there been, two? And has he spoken a word to me at either one? Not even when I _totally _missed that Quaffle, or when you—" she scowled at George "—let a Bludger hit me right in the calf."

"Sorry!" he said quickly. "I was trying to help Katie. Blame Fred."

Fred frowned. "I was across the stadium. Couldn't have gotten there in time."

She laughed. "Whatever, the point is now I have a huge bruise, and he didn't even give me a break. I don't know. It's not like I was doing it to hurt his feelings."

"Yeah, but you did," Fred explained.

"And his ego," George added. "Now he's not the big hot shot he thought he was."

She laughed. "Oliver was never a hot shot. He was too busy obsessing over Quidditch strategies. Besides, I thought we already decided on the hot shot. That Cedric guy in year four."

"Uch," George muttered. "Don't talk about him. Looking at him burns my eyes."

"Really? Not mine," she said cheerfully, but stopped short when they heard a sharp _crack._

"What was that?" George whispered, sounding panicked.

"I think," Ellie whispered back, "it was a twig." She was trying to make fun of him, but it came out sounding just as scared as him.

There were another series of snaps, and then a creature appeared in front of them. He was tall and slightly handsome, but there was something she couldn't place—

And then her eyes drooped down and she saw that his legs were horse legs.

"You're—you're a centaur!" she gasped.

The centaur looked amused. "I am," he said. "And you ought to mind the rules your headmaster laid out for you. These are no woods to be exploring."

"No, we have permission," Ellie said quickly. "Orders, actually—this is our detention. With Hagrid."

The centaur's expression changed. "Ah. Hagrid."

"You know him, then?" asked George.

The centaur nodded.

"So—not to be blunt—can we trust you?" asked Fred. "Not that there's much we can do about it if you're planning on killing us, but…"

"You can," he assured them, "though we cannot speak for long. My kind and your kind do not mix well."

"Really?" Fred asked interestedly. "I never knew that."

The centaur looked slightly eager, and went off into a speech about the events of history that separated centaurs from humans. While they spoke, Ellie pulled the Marauder's Map out of Fred's pocket and activated it, just to make sure everyone was all right. Ron, Hermione, and Hagrid were in generally the same place, but their dots were quavering, a sign that they were active and not hurt or dead. Harry, Neville, and Draco's dots were also quavering, but while Draco's and Neville's were moving, Harry's wasn't.

"Look," she said. "They're leaving Harry behind."

"Hey," George said, glancing at it, "what's that dot next to him?"

She squinted at it. "No name. Hey, guys?" she asked, interrupting the centaur. "D'you think we can follow this map and check up on Harry?"

But a loud shout of fear burst through the air, and Ellie's spine stiffened.

"Hurry," said the centaur. "You. On."

"We'll wait here," Fred said in reference to himself and George, while Ellie wordlessly ran over to the centaur, heart pounding.

"Wait," the centaur said, hesitating. He glanced behind him as if he were being watched, then shook his head. "No, get on, and hurry!" Once she was safely aboard his back (it was remarkably similar to riding a horse, she noted), he instructed her to hold on tight, and they were off.

There was nothing like it. It wasn't like riding a horse anymore. Her hands were uncomfortably placed around his waist, and the ride was bumpy, but even then it was incredible. He was faster, safer, and grander than she could've imagined, and when he slowed down, she felt disappointment.

But then she saw what he was looking at and felt something completely different.

Harry was there, cringing, still and unmoving, as a hooded creature lifted from the unicorn whose blood it was sucking, and started to close in on him.

"Help him!" Ellie hissed at the centaur, who again hesitated. She sighed and pulled out her wand, ready for anything, but the centaur seemed to have thought better; he reared powerfully and thundered over to the hooded figure, threatening to trample him. To her immense relief, the figure bolted away.

"Harry!" Ellie shouted, dismounting. "Are you all right? How could Draco and Neville leave you like that?"

"Draco ran like a coward," he admitted, shaking his fears away with a shiver, "but Neville tried to stay—he kind of—_moved_—but not of his own accord. He apologized tons. But he was just being pushed back."

"Harry!" shouted a voice from the distance. "Harry, I'm so sorry!"

Ellie grinned when she saw Neville step up. "Wotcher, Neville," she greeted easily.

He looked surprised. "All right here?"

She nodded, as did Harry. He turned to the centaur. "You saved my life," he stammered. "How'd you know?"

"I helped!" Ellie said, acting hurt. "So did Fred and George, but he could only take one person—by the way, what's your name, er, sir?"

The centaur smiled. "I am Firenze, and it is a pleasure—but I must be going. I will escort you and your friends until you meet with Hagrid. Then I must leave you."

"Thanks," Ellie said. "You were great."

He smiled. "Where are your friends, then?"

She glanced around, and found Fred and George quickly. They were running surprisingly fast, long red hair blowing in the warm April weather.

"Everyone all right?" Fred asked frantically, looking from Ellie to Harry to Firenze and back.

"Fine," Ellie said quickly, "we're fine." Neville nodded miserably. "We had an… _encounter._"

"With someone evil," Harry added. Firenze cleared his throat and they started to move, Fred and George leading the way with the Map (which they didn't explain to anyone).

"Who's evil?" asked George. "What, Snape?"

Ellie shook her head. "No. It can't have been him. It just… wasn't."

"Who, then?" demanded Harry. "It all fits! If he's after the Philosopher's Stone, it makes sense that he'd be drinking unicorn's blood to sustain himself."

"You would notice in class," said Firenze, "a dramatic change. He will have lost most of his will and soul. Have you noticed this?"

Ellie frowned. He'd been rather soulless since the beginning of the year.

"I'm telling you, it's him!" Harry insisted.

"It's who?" asked Ron, stepping into view with Hermione and Hagrid. Harry's face burst into a smile as he hugged Ron and Hermione, then Hagrid. Ellie waited for the pang of jealousy to come to her, the wish to belong like he did, but it didn't come. She glanced around to see Fred and George grinning broadly at her, and she realized why: She did belong. With them.

* * *

"Think that counted as a detention?" Ellie asked cheerfully when they got back to the common room.

Harry laughed. "I'd say we learned our lesson. And quite a few new ones."

"El, you coming up?" asked Fred, gesturing to the boys' dorms. "Common room's too crowded for my liking." Sure enough, students were everywhere, trying to know how their detention went. Ron was the only one paying attention to the crowds.

"Yeah, give me a few minutes," she said, and ran up the girls' dorms to retrieve what she'd been wondering about all day. She glanced at the two letters, labeled _Ellie _and _Severus, _and weighed her options.

True, it was definitely addressed to Snape, and not her. Ringo was one faithful bird, to know she'd want to read this letter. But she felt like she was taking advantage of her mother's trust… or at least being ungrateful. She sighed and opened her own letter, postponing the other problem.

_Ellie,  
A lot has happened this year for me. I have been working alongside the advisors to the Prime Minister, and have already been appointed his campaign manager for his second term. Campaign begins this summer. As that will be a busy time for me, I will understand if you prefer to spend the summer with the Weasleys again. I will of course take care of everything, if you so choose._

_I hope you have had a successful year at Hogwarts. As April draws to a close, I want you to remember not to look for any trouble just because the year is ending. Stay focused, and whatever you do, be careful. You've already gotten into too much trouble for my liking._

_Serena_

Ellie had to reread it to fully comprehend it. The first paragraph was no surprise, nor was it a problem; she loved the thought of spending another summer at the Burrow. But the second paragraph was confusing. Why did she suddenly care about Hogwarts? How did she know Ellie was helping with the Philosopher's Stone—or did she know at all? And how did she know Ellie had already gotten in trouble?

Curiosity got the best of her. Ignoring her necklace that glowed brightly, which meant Fred was wondering where she was, she turned to the other letter and, after a moment's hesitation, ripped it open.

_Severus,  
I do not think you are treating her acceptably. Just because I didn't turn out like you, just because you didn't like her father, doesn't mean you have to take it out on her. Ellie is a bright young girl trying to learn, and she won't get anything done with you treating her like you treat me._

_For God's sakes, Severus, stop being the cold man you are and move on with life. Stop holding grudges. Stop hating everything. I know you better than anyone—grew up with you—saw you fall in love. You have a heart, I know it's still there. Use it for the one person who matters. Use it for your niece._

_Serena_**  
**

Ellie didn't have the clarity of mind to reread it. Instead she sat there, paper dangling off her lap, mouth open, shocked.


	15. Pressure

**Chapter 15: Pressure**

"That's impossible," Fred said simply.

"Fine, don't believe it," she snapped. "But that doesn't make it any less possible. He's my uncle, Fred. It makes sense. I stopped denying it a few hours ago."

They were having lunch together, and George was somewhere off with Lee. As much as Ellie loved George, she had decided this was too big a secret even for him.

"But—_how_?" Fred sputtered.

"For one thing, I look like him. Cleaner hair, hopefully, but I do. Blackish hair, face that's too skinny—"

"Your face isn't too skinny," he said quickly. "And anyway, your faces look nothing alike. His is… gaunt. Yours is…" He didn't seem to think of the right word.

"Anyway, I got my eyes from my mum, but other than that she looks just like him. And yes, she has a gaunt face. Bloody hell. I'm gonna look like that when I grow up." She rubbed her temple tiredly.

"Calm down," he said quickly. "It's just your uncle. It could be worse."

"But," she insisted, "he knows my mum! He grew up with her! And he knows my _dad_. She said in the letter that he should let go of the grudge and not hate him anymore."

Fred put his sub down and considered. "Maybe you should just ask Snape."

"What?" she demanded.

"I know, it's not the best idea, but it's something, isn't it? What do you think he's going to do, deny that he's your uncle? He won't. He can't."

"He can," she corrected, "but I don't really think it's likely. He hates me. I guess because of my dad—or because of Harry. Or even you. I mean, let's face it, he hates a lot of people."

Fred laughed. "That's true. But if you specifically _asked _him—"

"Okay," she said, half laughing. "Fine. I'll try it."

Whether she really would, she wasn't sure. She supposed she'd just have to find out when the time came.

* * *

She had no intentions of giving Snape the letter. It had been waxed off with her mother's stamp, so there was no way she could replicate it with a new envelope. She just hoped her mother wouldn't write again.

He didn't act any differently to her than he usually did, an indication that he didn't know she'd read it. She was glad; Snape knowing she read his mail could only mean trouble.

Dean and Seamus took turns drawing humorous pictures of him, as she had on the first day, and she laughed halfheartedly. If Snape really was her uncle, her mother's brother, she wasn't sure she'd be able to laugh at it anymore. Already a part of her was pitying him. Half the class was staring at him behind hateful eyes.

But then he yelled at Harry, and she remembered that he started it.

She sighed and took notes, only partially paying attention, as this wasn't a potion-making day. They'd made few potions in their first year; it was mostly notes and book work.

At the end of class, she was fully prepared to walk out with her friends and try to forget the weird things she had read about. But, thoroughly surprising her, he shouted, "Bretherworth! Stay."

Blushing as usual about her name, Ellie shrugged and walked up to his desk. His dark eyes were glittering in a threatening way. Or was it her imagination?

"It is May, Miss Bretherworth," he said with a bit of a snarl, "and your grade has been suffering lately due to your… shall I say, lack of participation?"

She swallowed and said nothing.

"I would suggest you study very hard if you wish not to have to retake this level. Exams are coming up in a month, and do not make the mistake of thinking mine will be at all easy."

She wasn't really sure why he had held _her _back for this. She was doing much better in Potions than most of the other Gryffindors in her class.

"Is that all, sir?" she asked.

He glared at her for a second before nodding.

She swallowed again and turned to leave, but she froze mid-turn. She spun back and looked straight into his eyes. She saw with interest that he looked more surprised than sullen.

"I believe I said you could go," he said, but he didn't sound as sarcastic as usual.

"Do you know my mother?" she asked, so randomly and so quickly that she surprised herself.

He stared at her for several seconds. Once again, he did not look angry but was mostly surprised. Still, his expression was rather grim. "Yes," he said, glancing down and rummaging around his desk papers, "I do."

Ellie nodded. "So you're, like, her…?"

"What did she tell you?" he interrupted.

"Nothing," she said quickly. "Nothing." She didn't want to put her mother in any danger, and cold as it was, she didn't completely trust Snape not to be dangerous. "It's just that you kind of seem related."

"Really."

"Yeah," she said, nodding. "Dark hair, pallid skin, kind of willowy… Not to insult you Professor… anyway, are you her brother?"

He stared at her openly.

She shrugged. "I'm just asking. Maybe I'm wrong."

"You're not," he said grimly. "I'm her half brother."

She hadn't known about the 'half,' but as long as they had the same mother, they had probably still been raised together. "So, um, do you still talk?"

"Do not think," he interrupted, "that because I am your—your _uncle,_ or something—that I will favor you. I will not."

"I know. What's changed? You always hated me."

He looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn't.

She shrugged. "Okay. Well, thanks for being honest with me." She waved uncertainly before darting out of the room, not wanting to spend any more moments with her intimidating, confusing half uncle.

* * *

The common room was getting busier and busier with students studying for their exams. Exams were in a little less than a month, and while that seemed like a lot to Ellie, to most people it wasn't nearly enough.

"They're so uptight," she said to Fred and George one particularly painful night in early June.

"Just like your uncle," said George brightly. He had never really recovered from Ellie's uncle being Snape—not that she really blamed him.

"The fifth-years are uptight about their OWLs," Fred explained, "and the seventh-years about their NEWTs. Sixth year finals are even harder than the seventh."

"Yeah, fourth year is the last year before the OWLs, so that's a big one," George continued. "And second year is the year everyone tries to do better than first year."

She nodded. "So what's third year?"

"The perfect blend of studying and keeping yourself happy," Fred said cheerfully. "Unlike these soulless drones. It's rather scary."

That was the truth. She hadn't ever seen anything quite like the frantic teenagers sprawled out, scribbling endlessly on parchment, not noticing anything but their work.

"Maybe we should do some sort of diversion," Ellie suggested, tapping a pencil to her cheek curiously. "Like… I don't know, another concert?"

"Yeah!" Fred said eagerly. "I meant to tell you, I wanted to ask about a prom-type thing."

"Well, I don't know about that," she said uncertainly, "but just a smaller thing to put people in good moods again could be fun."

"We can't keep pulling Ginny away, though," said George, "so we'd be short a bassist. Think you can teach Harry or Ron in the next few weeks, El?"

Ellie shrugged. "Sure. They're fast learners."

"So why don't we just jam in here?" Fred asked. "Seems like it could have good acoustics."

Ellie laughed. She was virtually certain he knew nothing about acoustics. "It's a cool idea," she admitted. "And we don't even need permission to play in here. Song?"

Fred and George grinned at each other before beginning to hum the tune for Queen's _Under Pressure, _and finally began to sing. Ellie had to strain her face not to crack up; they weren't trying to sound good, and as a result they sounded hilarious.

"You're just jealous, El," Fred said when they were finished. He glanced around and, when he noticed he was being looked at by the fervently studying peers around him, said, "These guys are pricks. Let's go to our room."

She nodded and went upstairs with them, being greeted as one of the guys by everyone else. She hadn't been reported once for going up with Fred and George, and she had a feeling the boys loved her enough not to ever report her. In a way it was nice, knowing she was appreciated. But in another way, it was frustrating, the same feeling she got about Fred from time to time—like being family wasn't right, being friend wasn't enough.

And her age didn't help much, either.

* * *

Hermione seemed to be spending every possible second studying—Ellie swore she spotted their Charms book on the shower rack, papers slightly water-crinkled—but Harry and Ron were busy doing other things, namely gathering information on magical obstacles and anything else they could find on the Stone.

Ellie tried to divide her time evenly—meaning Fred and George got most of it and the other first-years got the remainder—but she found it hard. Harry and Ron were eager for her help, while Fred and George were the really interesting company. Plus whenever she wasn't around Fred, her locket glowed. It should've been annoying, but she found it comfortably reassuring.

It was around mid-June when Ellie experienced the final straw. She was with the twins, Harry, Ron, and Hermione. The latter three were studying, while she and the twins played a very interesting wizarding version of Hangman in which the drawing of the gallows was animated and lively.

There were a few other students there, all looking panicked and like they were concentrating much too much. Ellie spotted Snape walk in and ducked her head, grumbling a bit as Fred and George shoved her further down.

"What are you doing?" Snape snapped to two random second-year girls who were whispering, probably about him. On their desk was a board game.

"Playing Wandums, sir," squealed one of them.

Snape looked annoyed. "You should be studying, not playing games."

Sensing the commotion, Madam Pince bustled over to see what was going on. Ellie glanced up to watch as Pince said, "Oh, dear, girls, you really shouldn't be playing games here."

"I thought—the sign said—"

"Yes, but exams are coming up," Madam Pince said carefully, "and you'll want to do well… studying would be a better way to channel it…"

A few students had gathered around. One of them, a rude-looking third-year boy who was clearly a Slytherin, said, "Blimey, Rush, God knows you could use the studying."

A few others cackled, and Ellie saw from Fred and George's expressions that this was the Draco of their grade. But she said nothing as the rudeness continued.

"And what about you, Williams?" asked the same boy. "Can you even read yet?"

It was a stupid insult, but Ellie still felt her heart go out to the poor girls being insulted.

"Adam is right, girls," Snape said, sounding proud of his Slytherin students. "You should be studying, not playing games, especially for my test… fifteen points from Gryffindor, I should say."

"Severus," Madam Pince said, "that's not necessary—"

"You're right, it should be twenty." He gave her a daring look, to which she nodded and bustled tiredly away. The girls gathered their things to leave, heads hung low, but Ellie was up in an instant. She expected Fred and George to stop her, but they followed her instead.

"I can't believe you just did that," Ellie said to Snape, flatly, furiously.

He turned and looked at her in honest surprise. She sighed. Surprise again. "Are you talking to me, Miss Bretherworth, or simply being delusional?"

"I'm talking to you," she said calmly. "I can't believe you just took twenty points from my house just because two girls were playing a game. Is that how important standardized tests are to you, that you would yell at two perfectly nice girls for playing a game?" Fred nudged her, and she knew 'standardized tests' was both too far and just wrong, but she didn't care.

"Ten points more from Gryffindor," he said, looking infuriated, "and I can do plenty more if you do not get a handle on yourself. Acting just like your father, arrogant—"

"What do you have," Harry demanded, standing up, "against our fathers?"

Snape glared at Harry. "Only that, like their offspring, they were weak—arrogant—cocky—disrespectful—"

"Better that than you!" Ellie shouted. "You're miserable, awful, cruel, and deceptive! You favor Slytherins completely, you treat Gryffindors like we're bloody doormats, and you're not even a good professor!"

"Fifty points!" he bellowed.

"That all you got?" she asked sourly, even though some of the other Gryffindors didn't look so nonchalant about it. "All you can punish me with is numbers that don't even matter?"

She turned to look at George, the best wizard of the three of them. She nodded to the corner of the room, where there was a cleaning broom.

He raised his wand. "_Muguino._" The broom morphed into a guitar and flew into Ellie's arms. She smiled and lifted it to her. "_Sonorus,_" she said. She did the same for Fred, and George turned a pile of books into a drum set. Snape stood, furious, watching.

"_Pressure,_" Fred sang in a very David Bowie way, "_pushing down on me, pushing down on you, no man ask for._"

Ellie smiled as she strummed her guitar. This performance was so random, so unbelievable, and so hilarious, and yet perfect. It was just what these students needed—and she hoped it could ridicule Snape in its own way, too.

"_It's the terror of knowing what this world is about. Watching some good friends screaming, 'Let me out!'"_

Ellie felt even better when she saw everyone's expressions: impressed, amused, and excited, but more importantly, relaxed. Understanding. They knew exactly what the words meant, and they could relate. As she hoped it had back at Christmas, their music had affected people.

* * *

The common room burst into applause when the six of them walked in. Harry, Ron, and Hermione hadn't actually done anything, but they grinned and took it in anyway. Ellie tried to make her way to the espresso machine (one of the seventh-years had jinxed a water cooler into an espresso machine), but she couldn't even get that far.

"I learned how to play bass!" squealed one of the third-year girls who Fred and George didn't seem to like much. "I can be a Weasley, too, if you want!"

"You know, we actually have a bassist—Ginny Weasley," Ellie said, grinning at the twins.

"But until she comes…"

"Only a few months now," Ellie said, never having truly appreciated Ginny until now. "Anyway, we're not playing any more this year. Except maybe _What a Scene _again."

A few more streams of applause broke out.

But Ellie turned again, and she spotted Harry looking panicked. He was whispering something to Ron and Hermione, and Ellie felt the same impulse that she had to know what was happening.

She pushed past everyone to get to them, and Harry didn't look like he was about to fight her.

"Hey," he greeted tiredly. "Look—I just thought about Snape, back in the library. He seemed kind of distracted—and put off by the extra attention. Then I saw his limp—it must've been ages ago, maybe on Halloween, but he must've tried to get past Fluffy. And it all adds up, nobody would recognize Snape with a hood on his head—he must know the secret—"

"But if he knew all this, wouldn't he have done it by now?"

"I think he's going to," Harry said. "As soon as tonight, even. We need to talk to Dumbledore—now."

* * *

Ellie ran with them down the hallway, struggling to keep up. She hadn't had time to tell Fred and George, but it was an honest mistake, not trying to keep them out of her affairs. They didn't know where Dumbledore's office was or what the password was, so they stopped at McGonagall's office.

"Professor," Harry said, breathing heavily. "We need to talk to Professor Dumbledore, _immediately._"

She looked rather stunned. "But—he's out of town, on business for the Ministry," she said. "He left me in charge, you can speak with me about it if you'd like…"

"It's about the Philosopher's Stone!" Harry blurted out. "Someone's going to try and steal it!"

Ellie's heart fell when she saw McGonagall's expression. "I don't know how you know about it, but I can assure you it's very well protected," she said calmly. "Now, back to your rooms."

Ellie glanced at the other three. Ron and Hermione looked defeated, but Harry didn't. He looked furious—dangerous—and most importantly, ready.

* * *

Okay, I'm going to take a break from updating, but we're reaching the last stretch, of book 1 at least. I might just continue on this story with book 2, I've written tons for my own pleasure. But we'll see when I finish this. Review!!


	16. Down the Trapdoor

Sorry about the wait… just needed to be reminded. Enjoy!

**Chapter 16: Down the Trapdoor**

"What are you going to do?" Ellie demanded on their way back.

"Nothing," Harry replied. "What is there to do?"

"Go down the trapdoor? Tonight? I mean, if Dumbledore's gone, tonight's the night Snape's going to try and steal it. You can't let that happen, can you?"

"It's too dangerous," he said flatly. "We're not going to."

Ron and Hermione looked nervous. Ellie wasn't sure what to think. If he was being honest, it was very unlike him. If he wasn't, then he really didn't want her to come.

She supposed there was nothing she could do about it, so without saying goodbye, she speed-walked over to the Fat Lady and ducked through the door before them. Fred and George were some of the only ones left.

"This again?" asked Fred with a heavy sigh.

"Sorry," she said. "I just didn't have time to get you. Doesn't matter, anyway. Whatever the three of them are doing, I'm not invited to."

"Not invited to?" Fred repeated. "Who ever needs an invitation?"

"Yeah, just tell us when and where, and we're your ticket in," said George.

"Okay," Ellie said carefully, "tonight, late. The third floor, forbidden corridor. Down the trapdoor. But—I'm not sure if Harry was lying or if he was just being stupid."

"Either way, we've got to stop Snape, haven't we?" Fred asked.

"Tonight, forbidden corridor," George said excitedly. "Down the trapdoor."

* * *

Ellie dressed in dark clothes, feeling strangely like a crook. She pulled her hair back in an elastic, slipped on her Converse (her only sneakers), and sat on her bed, waiting. Hermione was either asleep or pretending to be. When she stirred, Ellie darted under her covers, keeping one eye open.

Hermione left the girls' room with a sleepy expression, quieter than Ellie had expected, and went down the stairs. Ellie waited several seconds before following.

She heard voices in the common room and wondered if Fred and George had given them away, but it wasn't the twins. When she listened harder, she realized it was Neville.

"You can't do this," Neville insisted. "I won't let you. Between you three and Ellie, we're almost in negative points! You can't just break rules. Leave and I'm telling McGonagall."

The three exchanged looks. Ellie peered across the common room and spotted the twins lurking in the shadows. Fred caught her eyes and nodded.

"Neville, I'm really sorry about this," Hermione said. To Ellie's horror, she lifted her wand and said calmly, "_Petrificus Totalus._" Neville's body went cold and froze, and he clattered to the floor stiffly.

Shaking the image from her mind, Ellie took another step, watching intently as the three of them swung the door open. They ducked under the Invisibility Cloak, so the Fat Lady just mumbled about unfair working conditions and went back to sleep. Just before she closed, Ellie darted up and put a hand out to catch the knob. Fred and George followed her through it and out into the hallway.

"Get the map," Ellie warned. "We're not lucky enough to be invisible."

George did so, tapped it, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." The map changed, and he and Fred both looked at it.

"Well?" she asked.

"No one," Fred said carefully. "No one in the hallways."

"And Snape?" she asked. "Is he on the third floor?"

George's expression was nervous. "Er—no," he said, "not according to this. There's a dot that's not labeled, though—I think someone's there. But, look. Snape's in his room."

Ellie grabbed the map, still walking with a _Lumos_-lit wand, and looked at it. Sure enough, Snape's dot was just outside the Slytherin common room, unmoving.

"Well, he could've jinxed it," Ellie said. "Right?"

"The important thing is, there's a dot on the third floor."

She could tell they still didn't think Snape would do it. She didn't completely disagree, but she didn't know what else to think. She handed the map back to them and continued along, up the second flight of stairs, until finally they had reached the third floor. When they reached the door to Fluffy's room, Ellie saw Ron, Harry, and Hermione talking in low, soft voices.

"Snape's already been here," Harry said, gesturing to a harp in the corner that was enchanted.

Ellie glanced at the twins, who shrugged.

"Let's go," Ron said. "If we just move his paw… his large, frighteningly sharp paw…"

"Oh, Ron," Hermione sighed, and pushed past him to reach the beast. She shoved its paw aside and flipped the door open. Ellie seized this opportunity to step into view.

"Oi," she greeted in a very Fred-and-George-like manner.

"Ellie!" Harry practically shouted. Ron turned to his brothers and had the same expression.

"Sorry, aren't we all free to break the rules, or would you like me to just turn around and report you?" asked Ellie bitterly. "Though you could probably just lie your way around me again."

"Look, I'm sorry," he said, "but I didn't want to get you in trouble, and I knew if you came, they would."

"_They,_" she said furiously, "have two more years of experience than you, so shut up and go down the door already." She felt like pushing him.

"All right," Harry said, and kneeled down. "I'll go. Don't follow me unless I say it's okay. Any sign of trouble, run."

"Stop being a hero," said George merrily. "Any sign of trouble, down the trapdoor is probably safer than facing Filch or Mrs. Norris."

Ellie and Fred laughed. Harry heaved a sigh and jumped down. A few seconds later, he shouted, "I'm all right! C'mon! There's some kind of—cushioning."

Hermione and Ron both hesitated, so Ellie moved to go down, but Fred caught her arm.

"Got to make sure he's not lying again," he explained with a warm smile, and jumped down.

"All right, he wasn't!" he shouted up, and this time Ellie jumped. As Harry had said, she landed in a strange, somewhat slimy kind of cushioning and realized she was on some kind of plant.

"Wait," she shouted. She felt them slithering around, and she wasn't sure Harry and Fred had been right. "It feels sort of…"

But Ron, Hermione, and George all let out shouts of fear, and she realized Fluffy must have woken up. So instead of listening to her, they tumbled down the hole together, landing in amusing positions.

"Nobody listens to me," Ellie whined.

"Would you prefer we got eaten our heads off?" Ron demanded.

"I think it'd be 'our heads got eaten off,'" Hermione corrected. "So… where are we now?"

"Uh," Harry said, "guys?" He was slowly sinking, and the safe-seeming vines were starting to grip around him in a painful way.

Fred was wincing too, and before long Ellie felt them squeezing at her.

"I know what this is!" Hermione exclaimed. "We learned about it in Herbology. It's called a Devil's Snare. Genius, really, the teachers are so brilliant…"

"Great, Hermione," said Ron, "but how do you get us _out _of here?"

"The trick is to relax," she explained. "If you don't, it'll only kill you faster." She sounded perfectly calm.

"Kill us faster?" Ron demanded.

Ellie could tell Hermione had something else on her mind. Ellie had a feeling she knew, too: the teachers wouldn't set this up to kill someone, not if they knew what they were doing. Whatever would happen if they relaxed, it wouldn't be death. She closed her eyes and held her breath, and focused on nothingness.

She landed hard on her bum at about the same time Hermione did. Looking up, she saw only vines and fleeting colours of the others' clothes.

"It worked!" Ellie shouted. "We're okay! Come on, relax and you'll be too!"

Fred was the next down, followed closely by Harry and George. Ron was the only one left.

"How am I supposed to relax?" he shrieked. "This stuff is alive! It's—choking—me—"

"He's not relaxing!" Harry said, sounding very panicked. "Hermione, he's not relaxing, there's got to be something you can think of—"

"I'm trying!" she shouted. "There was a… a poem… Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare, it's deadly fun, but… will sulk in the sun! That's it!" She raised her wand to the plant and shrieked, "_Lumos Solem_!"

A huge ray of light burst from her wand, and the plant shriveled up and split apart. Ron landed with a thud a second later, and rubbed his head.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Ellie, Fred, and George snickered, mostly to lighten the mood, and they began to walk again. They reached another door, which they carefully opened, only to reach a room full of birds.

"Wait," Ellie said. "Not birds."

"Keys," Ron breathed, staring up at them in disbelief. "_Keys._ And one of them must be the one to that door!" He pointed to the door across the room, which had a large lock. Clearly _Alohamora _wouldn't work; it would be much too simple.

"Look," Harry said, and ran his hand over a broomstick hovering in midair. "It's so simple."

Ellie grinned. "Go for it, Harry! You're the best Seeker there's ever been."

"But—the keys," he said, nodding up at them. "They're everywhere. How will I even see anything? And which key do I get?"

"A big one, probably rusty," said Hermione, glancing around nervously. "Like… that! There!" She pointed to a loud, rusty key that was fairly easy to set apart.

"I think I have a solution for the others," said Fred with a grin. "El, go with him. And sing."

She stared at him. "_What_?"

"Sing," he repeated. "Use your shield. It works on other people too, if you're trying to protect them, right? Here, I'll start. _When you're feeling all wrong in the back of your mind again…_"

She stared at him like he was crazy for a few seconds before heaving a sigh and singing. "_How does it feel when you drop down, everything's all the same_?"

Harry grinned and mounted the broom; Ellie sat behind him, placing her hands nervously around his waist. It was lucky they were both too skinny; they probably added up to Snape's weight.

"_Saccharine, caffeine, nicotine gum—" _everyone was singing at this point "—_all tastes sweet, but it's not for long, and I just think you thought it would be."_

They were getting closer, and the shield was working; all the other keys seemed to bounce off a circular shield covering Ellie and Harry. He reached out and grabbed the one they were looking for, then tossed it down to the others. Hermione caught it and opened the door, and Ellie sang harder than ever as all the keys tried to pound into them. She didn't stop until they were safely on the other side, door closed behind them, and now facing a chess board.

"You've got to be kidding me," she heard George say plainly.

"I think it's kind of cool," said Ellie. "I mean, if we really have to play."

"Well, there's a rook over there," Ron said, pointing to a corner piece, "and Harry, you be a bishop. El, Fred, George—lucky you, I guess you don't have to play."

"Works for me," George said cheerfully.

"What about my shield?" asked Ellie. "It won't work unless I'm next to you."

"I guess we'll have to hope we don't get hurt," said Ron bitterly. "I'll be a knight," he added, and climbed atop the horse that was partially broken. And, with a dramatic pause, he began.

She was amazed about how well he played. Fred and George had always been more into cards than chess, but Ron was clearly the chess type. He ordered the pieces around, navigating them so that all they lost were two pawns, while the other team lost many more. But when the time came, Ron looked hesitant.

"All right," Ron said, "there's only one thing we can do to win."

Ellie glanced at Fred and George nervously.

"If I sacrifice myself," said Ron, "their king will be ready for Harry to castle. If he does, it'll be a check-mate, and we'll win."

"But," Ellie said carefully, "you'll get… slashed." She hated the term.

"No!" Hermione shouted. "There must be another way!"

Ron shook his head. "There isn't."

"Well, maybe if I sang—"

"You can't come onto the board," Ron said, "so don't try. Look, it's fine, I doubt they'd let us die. I'll probably just be brutally injured."

Ellie glanced at Fred and George. She'd expected them to laugh, but they looked very pale.

Ron didn't wait. He said his command, and underneath him the horse began to move. Ellie squeezed Fred's arm so sharply that she was sure her nails were piercing his skin, but he didn't seem to notice; his face was unreadable and distant. George's foot was tapping the ground uncomfortably. Hermione was biting her fingernails savagely, and Harry's head was turned downwards.

There was a crash, and Ron fell to the ground, surrounded in sharp pieces of the horse.

"Ron!" Hermione screamed, but Harry stopped her from moving; they were still playing.

Harry made his move, walking as if in a daze, and landed in front of the king. He took a deep breath and said loudly, "Check mate."

The king's sword clattered to the ground, and the doors opened. Ellie stood in horror for several seconds before running over to Ron.

"Someone's got to stay with him," said Harry.

"I will," George said immediately. "Go on. Really. I'm all for an adventure, but not when my friends get hurt."

Fred hesitated. "I should stay with you," he said, though he didn't sound like he wanted to. Ellie didn't want him to, either.

"No," George said, "go with them. I'll be fine. Everything's done here. Once Ron comes to, I'll go get backup, okay?"

"No," Ellie said quickly. "Not yet. If we're wrong about this, if Snape isn't here… we'll be expelled for sure."

"We know someone's here," Fred reminded her. "Some of the chess pieces were already gone, some of the Snare was split, and the door with the keys already had holes in it from the attacks. And…" He gestured to his pocket, where the map was. She remembered the dot.

She sighed. "Fine. But please, George, wait a bit. I don't want them to stop us before we stop him."

He nodded, and knelt beside his brother as she, Harry, Hermione, and Fred moved on to the next room. Ellie didn't want to stop, but she felt awful at leaving George behind.

"He doesn't want to come," Fred assured her. "I can tell." He glanced at her and gently took her hand. She was so scared that she didn't think twice before taking it and instantly feeling a calm wash over her. The next room was surrounded by black fire. In the middle was a table, and on it were seven potions.

"Great," said Harry. "Potions."

"Have you noticed there's been a room for every teacher?" Hermione asked. "It's like Hagrid said. The Devil's Snare had to be Sprout. The keys was Flitwick—he must've charmed them—and the chess board was probably McGonagall."

"So what about Quirrel?" asked Fred. "Defense Against the Dark Arts—you'd think he'd use a creature or something."

"The troll," Harry breathed.

"The one that got out? That _we _fought?" Ellie demanded. "You think?"

"Yeah. It makes sense. If this room's Snape's, he would've already seen Quirrel's, so he would've known there was a troll and let it out. It makes sense."

Ellie bit her lip but nodded. "Yeah, that sounds right. So what about this? What does the potion do?"

"One of them must let the drinker get through the flames," said Harry.

"Yeah," said Hermione, "which means only one of us can advance."

"What about Ellie?" asked Fred. "I mean, can't you get two through with your shield?"

Ellie bit her lip and sang a few lines from _What a Scene _again, then ran over to the flames. But the shield flickered and died, and she yelped and ran backwards.

"Are you okay?" Fred shouted frantically.

She nodded, breathing deeply, toes scathed. "Yeah," she said, limping back over to them. "But I don't think my shield's strong enough for that yet."

He nodded. "Don't try again. And hey, you don't have to, El, but you could probably jump them as a dog. Go along with Harry if he can drink the potion."

He was right. If she jumped the flames, she might get singed again, but it would be worth it. This was Harry's mission, but if she went on with him, she could probably protect him with her shield.

"So, how do we find out?" asked Ellie.

"Well, I know a spell that reveals poison," said Hermione, "and another that reveals magic. But if there are any that are magic but not poisonous…"

"You're quite brilliant, Hermione," said Fred cheerfully.

She laughed, and raised her wand. "_Revelatix,_" she said, and three of the potions spewed a purple gas. "Those three are poisonous," she squealed. "Quick, throw them somewhere."

Harry grabbed them and tossed them to the corner of the room, where they broke with loud _pop_s. Hermione turned to the remaining four.

"_Revelato_," she said this time, and two of the four turned green.

"Those two should be normal," she said, pointing to the two that hadn't turned green. "Wine, probably."

"Don't mind if I do," Fred said with a grin, holding one to his lips. But at Ellie's warning glare, he sighed and threw it and the other against the back wall, where the container smashed but no _pop _sounded.

"Okay," she said, "neither of these two should hurt us."

"Just because they're not poisonous doesn't mean they won't hurt us," said Ellie.

"I guess I'll try both," said Harry. "If you're sure they won't hurt me…"

"What did I just say?" Ellie demanded.

"I think he should," said Hermione. "And Ellie, if you can try and use your shield against the flames, go with him. Your shield's certainly come in handy so far."

Harry picked up one of the beakers and shakily put it against his lips. He chugged it, and promptly disappeared.

"Shite," mumbled Ellie.

Fred and Hermione tried very hard not to laugh.

"Harry?" she shouted.

"Yeah, I'm okay!" shouted a voice from behind them. A few seconds later, Harry ran up to them. "It sent me back to the last room," he explained. "I'm fine."

A smile broke out on Ellie's face, matching Fred and Hermione's.

"So this is the one," Harry said, taking the final beaker.

"You guys should go check up on Ron and George," Ellie said. "We'll be fine."

Fred didn't look like he wanted her to go. "Maybe you should stay," he suggested carefully, but he didn't wait for a response before adding, "I know. Sorry. Go on."

She smiled and kissed his cheek, lingering for longer than she should have. Then she morphed without much effort, looking up at Harry, who looked both frightened and amused. He downed the drink, and nothing happened except that he seemed to glow momentarily. He sighed, faced the black flames, and walked over to them. A second later, he stepped through them.

Ellie glanced back at Fred and Hermione one last time before running up to the flames and springing into the air. She felt one second of incredible, scorching heat, but it was over as soon as it had come, and she landed on the other side flame-free.

She gasped the second she changed back. In front of her was the Mirror of Erised, which in itself was a surprise; but more importantly, and more surprisingly, in front of it was Professor Quirrel.

* * *

So the one thing that I noticed looking over this before I published was that it gets kind of dull because it's so true to the book… but I didn't want to change much. Anyway, hopefully it was good to the readers, and I'll go ahead and post the next one now since I keep stalling.


	17. How to Save Your Life

**Chapter 17: How to Save Your Life**

"You," Harry said, gaping at Quirrel in disbelief.

Ellie found it very hard to believe herself. "But—you're such a—" She decided that, considering the state of things, an insult wouldn't much matter. "—coward."

"Coward?" he repeated, sounding slightly offended. "Me, the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?" He smirked. "Yes, well, I had to keep up appearances—couldn't have anyone suspecting me of any dark magic, could I? And did it work, did you suspect me?"

Not for a second. But it made sense—Quirrel, the one who reported the troll in the first place; Quirrel, the one Snape had always pulled aside…

"Snape was trying to protect the Stone?" Harry asked shakily.

"Yes, and it was hard to get him off my back about it," Quirrel said bitterly. "No matter, though… I'm here now..."

Ellie glanced at Harry and took a step closer to him. His jaw clenched.

"Go on, then, look in the mirror," said Quirrel with another cruel smirk. "Don't think you're going to see Mummy and Daddy this time, though."

Harry glared at him for several seconds, but Ellie pushed him along. She saw the mirror, but once again she saw herself with the man, her father.

"Elena Bretherworth," Quirrel said, turning to face Ellie. "Severus's pathetic little sister's offspring. Your mother amounted to nothing in the end, just as the Dark Lord predicted."

Ellie snorted. "Why should I care what Voldemort thinks?" She glanced at Harry, and saw that he was fingering his pocket, where a lump had appeared. She had a feeling she knew what it was.

"You should," Quirrel snapped, "everyone should. You are a disgrace."

"_Kill her,_" hissed a voice. "_Kill the girl, she's just as worthless as her father…_"

Ellie swallowed. It didn't have to be him. There was no way it _could _be him; Voldemort was gone. But who else could it be? Who else could have a voice so dark, so cruel…and if it _was _him… How had Voldemort found her father worthless, when her father was so allegedly a Death Eater who went to Azkaban for his lord?

But she didn't have time to think anymore, because Quirrel was raising his wand. The only thing she had time to do was hum, hum a simple tune, each _Na, Na, Nananana, _from her favourite song—the song she always played with Fred—she wished Fred was here—

And then she saw green light, and everything went black

* * *

She stirred. She opened one eye. She wasn't sure if she was dead, until she realized that about three seconds had passed and she was in the exact same place. She was alive. The humming had worked—better than she had expected, actually, as Quirrel was sure she was dead.

"She is dead, master," Quirrel said, and turned to Harry, who had finally peeled his eyes away from the mirror. He jumped down and shook her. "Ellie?" he shouted. "ELLIE!"

She opened one eye, very carefully, and gray met green, and he relaxed. But she widened them, and he remembered, and he stood back up and shouted, "How could you?"

Quirrel smirked. "It's quite easy, actually—I can demonstrate on you—"

"_No,_" hissed the voice. "_The Stone—you must get the Stone—he can._"

Quirrel turned back to Harry and pushed him back in front of the mirror. "Tell me, boy," he shouted, pressing his wand against Harry's neck and yanking Harry's wand away from him. "Tell me what you see."

"I—I'm winning the House Cup," Harry stuttered.

"_He's lying_!" hissed the voice.

"You're right!" Harry said fearfully. "I am lying. I see my parents, all right? I see my mum and my dad, standing on either side of me—"

"_Lying_!" the voice continued. "_This is what he usually sees—not what he now sees—let me speak to him._"

"Master, you are not strong enough," Quirrel said nervously.

"_I have strength… enough… for this._"

And before Ellie had time to imagine what was happening, Quirrel was unwrapping the turban around his head, slowly, magnificently, horrifically… and soon the cloth was gone, and in its place on the back of Quirrel's head was a sickening face, the face of Lord Voldemort.

Harry took a step back, his expression purely fearful.

"_Give me the Stone,_" Voldemort hissed. "_Come, boy, give me the stone and I can give you what you want—what you need—what you see in the Mirror—what you really see…"_

Harry took another step back, green eyes glowing from the flames, the flames that had surrounded them… But he couldn't move, and he wasn't saying no.

"_I can bring them back," _it hissed. "_Together—we can bring them back. Just give me the Stone!"_

"No!" Harry shouted, but Voldemort shouted and Quirrel shouted and they ran toward him, and Ellie lunged forward and grabbed her wand and prayed that her spell would work as she shouted, "_Petrificus Totalus_!"

Quirrel was thrown backward, clattering down, and Harry grabbed his wand.

"How do we get out of here?" he shouted desperately to Ellie.

She looked around. "I don't know—I can jump the flames, but I can't leave you here—"

He pulled the Stone out of his pocket. It was a brilliant red, beautiful, glowing. "Take this back to the others," he said, "and tell them to get help. Come back here if you can—we can fight him, er, _them _off until a teacher gets here…" Quirrel's body was stirring. "_Petrificus Totalus!_" he said frantically, and the body turned cold again.

Ellie glanced down at it and gave it a few sharp kicks and a punch. Blood dribbled out of Quirrel's lip, and she jumped up, frantic at the sight of blood, more frantic that she had caused it, and praying that her punches had done something to keep him knocked out. She changed into a dog and gripped the Stone in her teeth, ran to the flames, and jumped them, feeling the scorching pain once again. She ran through the empty room, then through the potions room, back to the chess room, where the other four were sitting. She changed back and spit the Stone out of her mouth, chest heaving.

"Take it!" she shouted, thrusting it into Fred's hands. "Get help—quick! It's not Snape, it's Quirrel, and Voldemort's on the back of his head—he's only knocked out. I've got to help Harry!" She changed back and ran away before any of them could say anything to her.

She skidded through the two rooms and over the flames, and saw Quirrel standing, Harry's wand on the floor. She groaned. Quirrel had overpowered him.

She made to leap on Quirrel, to knock him down, but she was too late; he was strangling Harry.

She changed back and reached for her wand, but instead she watched in fascination as Harry somehow overpowered Quirrel.

Harry's hands were touching Quirrel, scorching his face, and Quirrel was screaming, and Voldemort was screaming. Harry looked amazed and pulled away his hands, but realized they were the source of the pain and returned them to Quirrel. Faster and faster Quirrel's skin was scorching away, but he still had his arms, and he grabbed Harry's arm and, screaming from the searing pain, twisted it backwards.

Now Harry let out a scream, and Quirrel, scathed and horrible to look at, was still whole, standing, wheezing. And he lifted his wand.

"_Petrificus Totalus_!" Ellie bellowed, wishing he had taught her more defensive spells, because she was getting sick of this one, but all the same she watched him clatter to the ground, and Harry stood and stared in disbelief.

"How long can we do this?" Harry demanded. "Who got help?"

"I think George did," Ellie said, "help should be coming—"

But Quirrel was stirring again, and Ellie wasn't fast enough for her wand. Harry reached out to do whatever it was he did with his hands, but someone else stopped him.

Dumbledore was pushing past them, wand at the ready, waving it wordlessly, and Quirrel's body began to jerk and fly, and his yelps and screams were even more apparent, but he reached for his wand.

But Harry grabbed him, scorching him even more, and in seconds Quirrel was dead.

But Ellie saw it, just as she was sure Dumbledore did: a spirit, looking like the ghosts of Hogwarts, flew swiftly through the air, hissing incoherent things. It knocked into Harry, looped around, and knocked into Ellie, and this time things went to a more permanent black.

* * *

She didn't wake up in the same place, but she again knew she wasn't dead. This was because the second she opened her eyes, she spotted Fred and George. And unless they were dead, she was definitely alive.

"Ellie!" Fred shouted, a smile breaking out on his face. "Finally!"

She snorted. "Sorry if my unconsciousness was inconvenient."

"Not at all," George assured her. "How do you feel?"

She laughed, then winced, because laughing was a bit of a sore spot for her. "Well, I've felt better," she said. "Do you know what happened?"

"Besides me getting a whole lot of praise for delivering the Stone?" Fred asked with a grin. "Not really."

"Where's Harry?" she asked, and George pointed to the bed next to her. With some effort she hoisted herself up, resting her back against the wall, and turned to look.

Harry was still unconscious, with several scars back from the chess board but otherwise fine. She relaxed.

"How long have we been out?"

"It's three o'clock tomorrow," Fred explained, "so the rest of the night and the better part of today. But it's not like it was a never-ending coma."

"And if you're curious about the gifts, you'll be pleased to know you got more than Harry," George added.

She raised her eyebrows. She found this unlikely.

"Okay, you didn't get more _senders _than Harry, but me and Fred got you like fifty things, and Dean and Seamus completely showered you with candy, and Oliver came in and turned this into a bloody shrine."

She glanced around her cot to see that it was very well-decorated, surrounded with streamers and railings and decorations, and that there were several wrapped presents labeled _To Ellie, From Oliver._

"I thought things with you two were awful?" asked Fred.

She shrugged. "I guess almost dying made me more popular."

They all looked up in surprise as the door opened and Albus Dumbledore strode calmly into the room. Fred and George stood, and Ellie straightened a little.

"Mr. and Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore greeted with a nod. "Would you mind if I had a moment with Elena?"

"Of course, sir," said George.

"She prefers Ellie," Fred said with a grin, and darted out before he could be reprimanded.

"Do you know how many rules you broke?" Dumbledore asked cheerfully, sitting down on the edge of her cot, minding her feet.

She crossed her legs and looked down at her hands. "Er—a lot?"

"A lot," he agreed. "And do you know how much you helped Hogwarts?"

Her expression changed to surprise as she looked back up at him. She gave him a nervous grin and offered hopefully, "A lot?"

He smiled and nodded. "A lot," he agreed.

There was a silence that wasn't awkward as much as contemplative, which was interrupted when Harry stirred. Ellie turned to look at him, and smiled when his eyes drearily opened.

"Think you've gotten enough sleep yet?" she teased.

He laughed. "And I was hoping I'd beat you," he said, then narrowed his eyebrows and looked around in confusion. "Where are we?"

"Hospital wing," replied Dumbledore. "You have been here since last night. And yes, as you can see, you have both been showered with gifts."

"He's proud of us," Ellie explained to Harry. "Hopefully we won't get a bunch of points taken off."

"No," Dumbledore agreed, "you won't."

"Um, sir?" asked Harry timidly. "Do you think you can explain to us… what happened? I mean, did you have any suspicions it was Quirrel? How was Voldemort… on his head? And why was it that when I touched him, he sort of… dissolved?"

Dumbledore looked at him with an understanding smile. "Of course I can explain," he said, "and you very much deserve it. While Severus warned me that Quirinius may be up to something, no, I did not have any major suspicions; I admit I thought Severus had him under control."

Harry nodded, and Ellie could tell he wasn't mad at Dumbledore for this mistake.

"Lord Voldemort," Dumbledore continued, "must have been a very lost soul indeed to have to resort to living inside another… Though I admit, most of us hoped he was gone forever. He must have found Quirinius and forced him into it; Severus has assured me he was never a Death Eater."

"And the Death Eaters are—?"

"Voldemort's followers," Ellie said, remembering that she had a few questions of her own to ask.

Dumbledore nodded. "Yes. Now, when you touched Voldemort, Harry, you were indeed dissolving him. Your touch is fatal to him because of what you have that he cannot stand."

"Which is… what, exactly?" asked Harry.

Dumbledore smiled. "Love."

Ellie's eyes widened. Love? Really? She felt like laughing instead of acting respectful.

"I do not mean this in any humorous way," he said, obviously sensing Ellie's thoughts. "Harry, when your mother died to save you, she enveloped you in a kind of love Voldemort can never possibly imagine. The love acted as a kind of charm for you, and is what ended up saving you from the beginning."

Harry sat there for several seconds. "So that's why I survived?" he finally asked. "Love?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Love. And your touch, the touch your mother gave you, was fatal to him in that same way."

"But—we were sure it was Snape," Harry said.

"_Professor _Snape," Dumbledore corrected, "and you were quite wrong. I am sorry that he does not like you as much as you might hope—both of you—but those are for personal reasons."

Ellie nodded. "He complained about both our dads before."

"Your fathers," Dumbledore said, "were both in the same year at Hogwarts, as was Severus. Severus… well, I would choose to say he didn't get along well with them."

Harry looked surprised. "But they got along well with each other?"

Dumbledore's lips thinned; clearly he didn't want to elaborate.

"Sir?" asked Ellie. "When—when Harry was looking in the mirror and Quirrel tried to kill me, well, before that, Voldemort said something. He said, '_Kill the girl, she's just as worthless as her father._'"

Dumbledore didn't say anything for several seconds.

"Are you sure that is what he said?" he asked finally.

This wasn't what Ellie had expected; Harry, too, looked surprised. "Yes," she said, "I'm positive. He said it pretty clearly. And Quirrel knew I was Snape's niece."

Dumbledore's lips had gone thin again.

"Sir," Ellie said, "please. Ever since I came to Hogwarts, I've been learning all these things about myself. I mean, Snape's my uncle—that was a new one. And when I was sorted, the Sorting Hat told me my dad was a Gryffindor. But I was sure he was a Slytherin. And it also said that my name was 'not a name, but a disguise,' and I thought it might have a point—what kind of a name is Bretherworth, anyway?" She was rambling. She blushed.

Dumbledore sighed. "There are parts of it I do understand, but parts even I do not," he said. "None of them are things I can say to you without betraying your mother's trust. If you wish to know the truth, it is she you will have to ask." He shook his head. "I really am sorry, Ellie."

The fact that he called her Ellie brightened her otherwise miserable spirits.

"Well, rest up," Dumbledore said. "Exams have been canceled, and school lets out next week, so the House Cup ceremony will be next Friday."

"Why bother going?" muttered Harry.

Dumbledore smiled. "I wouldn't act that way. Perhaps it won't be as bad as you think." And with a flourish of his cape, he left.

* * *

Ellie and Harry couldn't sleep, so they mostly took turns trading candy and talking about anything and everything. He opened up to her about his parents, and she vented about the mysteries of her father. He apologized for always leaving her out, and thanked her for repeatedly saving his life; she thanked him for apologizing and also for repeatedly saving her life, as well.

By the time they were released the next day, she had almost forgotten that she already had best friends. She spent the walk to the common room talking animatedly with Harry, and almost didn't want to leave his side—until she saw Fred again.

He was alone for a change, chatting with Lee but George nowhere in sight. She was offset about that, but was too happy to see Fred to notice. The last time she'd seen him, she'd been in a hospital bed. Before she knew what she was doing, she leaped into his arms and hugged him harder than she could've imagined.

It felt wonderful to hug him like that. He was tall and strong, and hugged her with as much force as she used. When she finally let go, he said in amusement, "You're too skinny."

She said goodbye to Harry and ran up to the boys' common rooms with Fred, giving George another hug that she had to admit was the smallest bit less emotional.

"So, you're spending summer with us, right?" George asked when she sat down with them, taking Lee's bed.

"Definitely," she said happily. She thought she'd be sad about leaving Hogwarts, because it was her home, but she was wrong. She was going to the Weasleys', and that was her real home.

* * *

One more chapter to go of year one, and then I'll probably just keep posting years 2, 3... etc... to this story. I have a WHOLE lot more of this story. I stopped writing it months ago actually, but I have plenty to keep everyone busy, and I can always pick it up again if I get that far with publishing.


	18. The Weasleys

So I just pulled up this chapter and realized it's very short. Guess I'll have to post the first year 2 chapter tonight, too, otherwise that wouldn't be fair… and then I'm going to bed.

**Chapter 18: The Weasleys**

The six teenagers (and preteens) were soon the most popular kids in school. Gryffindors hovered around them constantly over the next week, Hufflepuffs cheered whenever they spotted them in the hallways, and Ravenclaws grinned and nodded to them every time they passed in the halls. Even some Slytherins complimented them.

The only bad news, in fact, was the Gryffindors' grim defeat by Ravenclaw in Ellie and Harry's absence. Ellie hadn't spoken to Oliver, but she had a feeling he wouldn't be quite as nice to her as his gifts had hinted.

Dumbledore said the events were supposed to be a secret, but for whatever reason, it had gotten out. Ellie suspected Fred and George, but she never really found out who it was.

She stayed glued to their sides all the times outside of class. Class itself was fun: the teachers had pretty much stopped teaching, and let them goof off. Ellie's favourite was the last day of class, the Friday that was also to be the House Cup day, starting with Transfiguration.

Dean and Seamus had been brilliantly nice to her all week, and she was grateful, but she still preferred to spend her time with Harry, who she had really bonded with over everything that had happened.

Luckily McGonagall let them party all day long, which was the thing she'd wanted most.

A few people asked her to sing, but there was no way she could do it without Fred and George, so she just hung out. They were sharing the class with Hufflepuffs, who over time had become her favourite other house.

"I still can't believe it," Dean said when she sat down with a transfigured coffee in her hand.

"What?" she asked, grinning and nodding at Harry as he sat on her other side.

"You know. You. Him." He nodded to Harry. "Actually facing… You-Know-Who. And I can't believe he was in our school _all year._"

"You know what else you won't be able to believe?" Ellie asked with a grin. "Snape's my uncle."

His eyes widened. "No."

"Yeah." She grinned as Dean and Harry both cracked up. Harry already knew, but it didn't lessen the laughter. She knew it was believable, but awful.

"Yeah, tell anyone and I'm cursing you," Ellie added, pinching Dean playfully.

"So how's Oliver these days?" asked Hermione overdramatically, plopping down on a desk. She looked surprisingly giddy at the fact that she was breaking a rule, even though McGonagall clearly didn't care.

"You seem unusually Lavender-y," Ellie said, raising her eyebrows. "Should I be worried?"

"Nah, but I heard he's been looking for you everywhere this week. And we all saw the stuff he laid out around your sickbed."

"Yeah." Dean grinned. "Quite a shrine."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "He just felt bad about how we left things," she said plainly. "It's not like anything can happen. Plus, now he probably hates me for losing the game. And anyway, I still don't even know why I went down that road."

"You're not _that _young," Hermione reminded her. "You'll be thirteen later this year. I say once you're a teenager, you should be able to date other teenagers under eighteen."

"Nice rule," Harry said, looking amused.

She rolled her eyes. "Anyway, if you want him, go for it," Hermione said. "If not, don't." She grinned. "All I know is, with this at the end of this year, people are going to be disappointed if there isn't some drama next year."

"I don't know," Harry said, and grinned. "I don't think Hogwarts will ever be disappointing."

* * *

Ellie piled into the Great Hall with Fred and George that evening, smile not faltering from her face. She had never been happier. Tomorrow she would be on the Hogwarts Express, and then on the way to the Burrow, and she'd be spending her summer with the people she loved the most.

Unfortunately, this evening she would have to live and breathe in the green and silver, because the Slytherin house had the most points. She sighed an overwhelmingly heavy sigh when she saw the banners.

"Whatever, we're still the favourite," Fred offered when he saw her expression.

She laughed. That was probably true. Still, she had to really try not to be down as they took their seats.

Dumbledore took his place at the podium a few minutes later. He didn't even have to clear his throat before the room was silent; they were clearly ready to hear what was going on.

"Welcome, everyone," said Dumbledore warmly. "It has been a fantastic year, and I would like to congratulate all of you—and also, warn you that exams will not be canceled again. Consider it a treat."

Everyone but Hermione groaned.

"I would like to thank all our staff, portraits, and ghosts for their accompaniment, and most importantly, you the students for everything you have done to make this year how it has been."

"Now, as the House points stand, Gryffindor is in fourth place with fifty-three points."

Everyone in the Gryffindor table cast their gazes down; a few Slytherins booed. Dumbledore ticked off the rest of the scores and Ellie's head felt heavy, like finally everything seemed to be crashing back down.

"However, recent events must be taken into account—I have some last-minute points to dish out," Dumbledore continued, and Ellie looked up hopefully.

"Firstly, to Mr. Ronald Weasley, for an uncanny ability to play chess, I award fifty points."

Everyone cheered ecstatically. It wasn't much, and they were still in last, but if Ron got something, then…

"Secondly, to Miss Hermione Granger, for incredible wit and power of knowledge, I award—fifty points." The suspense seemed worth it for the relief.

"Thirdly, to Fred and George Weasley, the latter for staying behind with a loved one and the former for moving ahead with a loved one… fifty points."

"Each?" Fred shouted hopefully.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Total. And now, to Mr. Harry potter and to Miss El—" he smiled slightly and said, "—to Ellie of Gryffindor, well, I would first like to say something."

Everyone stayed quiet. With the hundred fifty points they had earned so far, they were now in third. But they were going to need a lot more to beat Slytherin.

"I do not know what stories you have heard, but I expect the majority of them are true: Harry and Ellie went on alone to face very dark, very real magic."

Ellie had never heard the Hall this quiet.

"In the face of danger, Ellie showed amazing power and skill as a witch, and Harry showed inconceivable bravery to what most would have run from. To each of these heroes I award sixty points."

"Each!" Fred shouted happily.

"That was a hundred twenty points!" Hermione whispered fiercely. "We're tied with Slytherin!"

"And lastly," Dumbledore sighed, "it takes a great deal of wit to stand up to your enemies, but far more to stand up to your friends. For bravery of this type I award ten points to Neville Longbottom."

Neville looked stunned; for several seconds, no one spoke. Then everyone, even Hufflepuffs, even Ravenclaws, burst into applause.

"Neville, you rock!" Ellie squealed, reaching across the table and hugging him happily. "I can't believe it!"

"I believe a change of decorations are in order," said Dumbledore, and green and silver changed to red and gold, and immediately the Great Hall felt more welcoming than ever.

These were some of the last moments she would spend at Hogwarts, and some of the best of her life.

* * *

"I can't believe it's over," Ellie said the next morning. She was walking between Fred and George, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione were close by. "I mean… what a year."

Fred snorted. "Nah, first year's nothing. It's third you've really got to look out for. Some first-year kid might just become your best friend."

"What a drag that would be," George agreed, and ruffled Ellie's hair affectionately. But they didn't get far before Ellie heard a familiar voice shouting her name.

"Ellie!" Oliver shouted, running over to them. "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Ellie shrugged to Fred and George and backed away to a space away from the crowds of people, feeling very aware of her age as usual. She was wearing pigtail braids and a baseball hat, and while that morning she'd thought it was cute, now she just felt young.

"I just wanted to see you off," he said. "Make sure things are all right between us."

She smiled. "If they are with you, there are with me. I never wanted things to end the way they did."

"Me neither, but I understand that they had to." His expression was kind. "Just tell me that there'll be some time—I won't be waiting for it, but tell me there'll be some chance in the future for us to be together."

"Of course there is," she said carefully. "But tell me why you're so adamant about it."

He smiled. "You're the coolest girl I know, Ellie," he said. "There's no one like you. When I heard you were hurt, I freaked. I've never felt this way about anyone."

She smiled and hugged him. "All right, next year, probably not. But who knows? Maybe when I'm a teenager." She smiled and waved good-bye. He stopped her when she was on her way with a yell.

"I forgive you," he shouted.

"About what?"

He grinned. "Missing Quidditch!"

She laughed and kept walking, but he still seemed to be in the mood to shout. "Ellie!" he shouted. "Write me!"

She laughed again and waved an arm in acknowledgment. The truth was, he was a weakness of hers; she found him incredibly attractive, and his words made her melt at times. But she wasn't all that interested in dating him; he didn't seem like a stable or honest boyfriend, and when she did get into guys, that was what she would want.

She stopped in front of the train with Fred and George, who were waiting for her with grins on their faces. She shoved them playfully a bit closer, but they were stopped by Harry, Ron, and Hermione.

"We getting a compartment together?" Ron asked.

"Definitely, bro," George said cheerfully. "Guess being friends with Ellie bonded us."

Ellie smiled. "Definitely."

"So you're going home with the Weasleys?" Harry asked, looking incredibly jealous. "Lucky you." His expression was much more pained than it should've been, and she wished he could come.

"I can't believe it's over," said Hermione. "What a year."

"It's not over, though," said Harry thoughtfully. "Not really."

Ellie smiled. That was true.

It was only beginning.

* * *

It's REALLY only the beginning… seriously.

:]


	19. That Summer

**Book Two: The Chamber of Secrets**

**Chapter 1: That Summer**

"Welcome back."

These were the simple words Fred said to Ellie when she arrived at the Burrow, the simple words as if her life wasn't going to be any different. But she knew it was. She knew that even though Hogwarts was amazing, the Burrow would be even better—even more special.

Molly greeted them with cakes, brownies, and lots of other delicious food Ellie's mother had never bothered buying, let alone making. She gushed as usual about Ellie being too thin, and about how much everyone had grown, and then told the twins they needed haircuts. Finally Ginny came downstairs and greeted them, and Ellie's happiness elevated to even greater heights.

"Ginny!" she squealed, and she ran into Ginny's room with her to talk.

"Hi," Ginny said brightly, her dark eyes wide. "How was it?"

"'It' being my year?" Ellie asked. "Long. Complicated. Pretty strange." She sighed and went into a more deep explanation, starting with the classes, going into her friends, and ending with the Philosopher's Stone experience, which Ginny seemed to like the best.

"I can't believe you know him so well," Ginny said, pouting. "You fought the ultimate evil with him!"

Ellie laughed. "Yeah, Harry's pretty cool," she admitted, "but not as cool as your brothers. God, I love them, Ginny."

"Which ones? Fred and George are insane, and Ron's kind of a jerk."

Ellie laughed. "All three—but the twins especially. Ron's got his own group—which, yes, includes your soul mate."

"Ah, Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley," Ginny sighed. "It fits."

"Pft." Ellie snorted. "Ginny Potter? Sounds kind of weird to me."

Ginny continued pouting. "Well, he'll discover his true pining for me next year. So what are we doing all summer? Quidditch?"

"Lots," Ellie said with a devious grin. "Which reminds me—did I ever tell you about the Quidditch captain?"

* * *

The next month was just as great as she could have hoped. She still spent the nights in Ginny's room, but aside from meals, she spent almost all her waking hours with Fred and George either playing Quidditch or, her favourite, just talking.

Ellie remembered the occasions of the past summer when she and Fred had taken sub sandwiches outside and sat outside on the old bench, talking about whatever came to mind… that was when the interest in her father began, she remembered. Fred had told her everything he knew, but it wasn't much, and she had been angry inside. Now she resented herself for it.

It was only a week or two into summer when she pulled on a sweatshirt and crept out to the front door. She wasn't sure whether she'd see Fred or not, but sure enough, she did.

"I was wondering whether you remembered," he said, and smiled. "Hey."

"Hey," she replied. "I kind of kept debating whether I should. I wasn't in the mood to be alone at night, but I figured if you were here…"

"—it'd be worth it?" he finished, and grinned. "'Course it would, it's _me _we're talking about… so let me just get your veggie sub going, and we can go."

She laughed and hoisted herself onto the counter, crossing her legs and feeling more comfortable than ever. "God, I love it here. Don't you miss it when you're at Hogwarts?"

"Not really," he said. "Not as much as I miss Hogwarts when I'm here. But I think about the future sometimes, whatever I plan on doing when I grow up—it'll probably be with George—and that scares me more than anything. Not having this or Hogwarts."

She nodded thoughtfully. "Before magic, I was looking forward to getting away. But now I see what you mean." She grinned. "That is, if I'll get away with staying here _every _summer."

"Definitely," he said quickly. "You have to!" He gave her a suspicious look. "Why wouldn't you?"

The timer dinged, and he pulled out her warm sub and handed it to her. She squirted marinara on it and followed him outside, taking a seat next to him on the bench. Instead of noticing how close she was to him, she noticed how warm his body heat was—in a very comfortable way.

"So, again," he said, facing her. "Why wouldn't you spend a summer with us?"

"I don't know. For one thing, you guys are a family. How can you have any privacy with me there?"

"You're family too," he insisted. "I mean, not like you're my sister—bloody hell, that would be weird, I could never be friends with my sister, let alone… whatever we are—but family like…"

"Like we'll love each other forever?" she finished, not even noticing how sappy it sounded until he cracked up. Her mind was focused on his 'let alone… whatever we are,' which if she wasn't mistaken implied that they were definitely more than friends. But what? Clearly he couldn't put a label on it.

"Well, I'm not a redhead," she said firmly. "So I can't really be a Weasley."

"You'll have to marry one of us, then," he said stiffly, "but eventually you'll be a Weasley."

She didn't say anything, because she felt a bit awkward under the circumstances. She instead focused on the point of their debate. "Anyway, my mum has a lot going on, but once I'm eighteen, I'll probably only be seeing her once a year or so. I should really take at least one summer with her."

Fred held her gaze for a few seconds and finally said, "If that's what you want, I say go for it. But if you're just doing it for her, don't."

"I don't know," she said, and sighed. "I'm not doing it for her, but it's not really what I want, either. You know what I really want?"

Instead of shaking his head like she had expected, he nodded. "I think I do."

"Yeah?" she asked, waiting.

"You want to finally find out the truth about your father. You think he was put in Azkaban wrongly, and if so you want to free him and live with him."

She gaped at him for several seconds, because of course he was dead-on. Ever since Voldemort had called her father worthless, she had questions, questions which weren't properly answered by the outline of history and facts she had been given.

"Yeah," she said after a while, "that's pretty much right."

He nodded carefully. "Right, but what are the odds that they really made a mistake? I mean, this isn't the Middle Ages, they have fair trials and juries."

"I know. I'm just saying it's possible. Anything's possible."

* * *

Ellie had known from the start of the summer that Harry wouldn't be able to send many letters, but she felt odd writing a letter a week that wouldn't be replied to. Still, she did, and very faithfully; she just hoped he'd have something to look forward to when school started again. She hoped Ron and Hermione were writing to him a lot, too.

She exchanged a letter every few weeks with Hermione, who was doing well. She had bonded with Hermione during the end-of-year event too, but not like she did with Harry. Ellie had missed him all summer, and she felt continually worse and worse that he wasn't sending anything back.

"What if something's wrong?" she asked Ron at breakfast one morning.

"I don't think anything is," Ron replied. "Dumbledore said Harry's safe at home, and his aunt and uncle aren't cruel enough to do anything serious. I don't think."

She laughed, but didn't put much heart in it. "Well, I'm just worried. It's got to be so boring, not even being able to use magic."

Ellie hadn't been able to use her wand all summer, but with all the chores around the house, she was still experiencing plenty of magic. Molly, who seemed to sense Ellie's obsession with it, always offered her the most interesting jobs.

By their fourth week with no reply from Harry, Ron began to worry too. Fred and George, who had never really known Harry, were only mildly interested; Ginny, however, was probably more worried than Ron.

"I hope he's all right," she said quite a few times a day.

"Because you know him so well," Ron would retort sarcastically, but Ellie always knew he was just jealous. He didn't like the idea of the rest of his family sharing the friendship he had with his best mate.

It was the first of August one morning when Ellie was playing Chaser (with Ron and Ginny, versus Fred and George; they figured it was the only fair way) and Ron stopped mid-throw. He dropped the Quaffle to the ground and snapped his fingers.

"Dad's car!" he shouted.

"_What_?" they all demanded.

"All right, this isn't something to do in the air," he admitted, and touched back down to the ground. The others followed suit, and he gestured to them to walk further away from the house, keeping a wary eye on the only window that saw them. Luckily it was Ginny's, and Molly didn't usually go in her room.

"I'm serious," he said in a hushed voice once they were properly surrounded in very uncomfortable thorns. "Dad's car! Around Harry's birthday, we should take it and rescue him! Then he can spend the rest of the summer with us."

"There's no way they would let you do that," Ginny said plainly.

"No, I think we should," Ellie said quickly. "I mean, the car has an invisibility shield, right?"

"Yeah," Ron said eagerly, "and anyway, if we go at night, how're Mum and Dad to know? Harry can just say he walked, or something."

"Walked," George repeated.

"Ran?" Ron offered hopefully.

"It could work," Fred agreed, "with better tactics. Luckily that's where the three of us come in." He grinned and nodded at Ellie and George. Ellie felt glad to be included.

"It's not like we don't have time," Ron added enthusiastically. "It's only July."

Fred grinned. "Yeah, so let's take advantage of it while it lasts."

* * *

Ellie didn't really notice her changing until the end of July, when she woke up late one morning and Ginny was already making breakfast. She stopped in front of Ginny's full-length mirror and was taken by surprise.

She had grown at least an inch, possibly more. Her thin, dark hair had gotten longer, and her silver streak had almost faded completely. Her silver-gray eyes seemed brighter, almost visibly happier, and the long days of Quidditch were obvious by her tan. One of the only things that had stayed the same was her weight, which for some reason had stayed exactly the same, too thin and curve-less.

She wasn't sure if she liked growing. Ellie was one of the few people who liked being a kid. Since her last year, becoming best friends with the twins and having her mini-relationship with Oliver Wood, she had wanted to be older; but at the same time, being a kid was her life.

She supposed her experience with Quirrel and the Stone had matured her, and it showed in her now. She hardly recognized some aspects of herself, but at least some of her still showed. Fingering her temple, she could still see one of the scars she'd received playing human-sized chess; shifting her weight, she could still feel the burn on her foot that came from the black flames Snape had set up.

Snape. She tried to stop these thoughts from coming to her but couldn't. Snape… the Potions master she had always disliked… her own uncle. Her mother's half brother, grown up together.

And still she knew nothing about her father.

She rummaged through her drawer (Ginny had been generous enough to offer her a drawer), trying to find something to wear that was more weather-appropriate. She made a mental note to visit home with Ginny sometime soon and go shopping; on weekends and after school hours, she'd still have to wear normal clothes. She didn't mind the robes, really, but freedom was nice.

She pulled on a tank top and one of Ginny's skirts, and rolled it up a little mostly because of the heat. She pulled her hair back into a ponytail and stepped out into the hallway.

"Ellie," Molly greeted in surprise. "You look different today. Ginny's skirt?"

Ellie nodded carefully. "If that's all right, Ginny," she added to Ginny, who was standing wide-eyed behind her mother. "I mean, if it's not…"

"It's fine," Ginny said quickly, "it's just, you look a lot better in it than me."

"Oh, Ginevra," Molly sighed, "not this again. You're perfectly beautiful, and everyone at Hogwarts will love you. You've already got Ellie!"

"That is, if you get into Gryffindor," said George from behind Ellie teasingly. "If you don't, none of us'll be able to see you and you'll have to fend for yourself completely."

"Yeah," Fred agreed, stepping into place next to them. "I've got a feeling you'll be a Slytherin, Ginny."

Ginny's eyes widened and watered a little.

"Don't listen to them," Ellie said, shaking her head. "You'll probably be a Gryffindor. And so what if you aren't? Ravencalws are geniuses, Hufflepuffs are hilarious—they're my favourite outside Gryffindor—and I have to admit, Slytherins are pretty sly. It takes brains."

"Stop being nice," George said, shooting her a glare, but Molly looked pleased.

"Thank you, Ellie dear," she said distractedly. At least, Ellie liked to think the use of 'dear,' her least favourite pet name, was due to distraction. "Well, breakfast should be ready in a few minutes. Would you three like to feed the chickens beforehand?"

Ellie shrugged and followed the twins out the back to the chicken coop. She had always thought it was strange that they had one, but didn't mind; and anyway, they didn't end up eating the chickens, which to her, a strict vegetarian, was always nice.

"See, guys," she said when one of them let her pet it, "these are really intelligent, beautiful creatures."

"This intelligent, beautiful creature just crapped on me," George whined.

"I think this one's eating its own toe," Fred added.

Ellie groaned. "I'm serious," she said, though she had to bite her lip not to laugh. "They're so smart! And cute! And after raising them and taking their eggs, how can you still eat them?"

"I only had chicken four times last year," Fred offered. "And one of the times, I didn't finish it."

She shrugged. "That's decent. George?"

He grinned. "What can I say? I love it."

She rolled her eyes, but didn't pass the matter on. She hated religious preaching, so preaching about vegetarianism wouldn't be much different. She hated the thought of hypocrisy.

"You look different today," said George when they made their way back inside.

"Yeah." She shrugged. "I actually had the energy to put on a skirt." She had even attempted magic shaving the night before, but instead resorted to Muggle razors; magic shaving ended up with more cuts.

"Ginny's?" asked Fred.

Ellie nodded, not sure what else to say, and was relieved when they were back in the presence of the family. Arthur, Ron, and Percy had sat down, which made a full house.

"Ellie's still got to meet Bill," George said, biting into a biscuit.

"And Charlie," Molly agreed, looking a bit confused as to why he had left it out. Ellie, who had met Charlie when rulebreakingly delivering Norbert last year, lowered her head and said nothing.

"So, Dad," Ron said, glancing up at his father. "How's it going with the car?"

Arthur's face almost visibly lit up. "Excellently!" he said loudly. "Just brilliantly, thanks for asking, Ronald. I've figured so much out about Muggle technology—you've no idea how fascinating is—and incorporated our broomstick-making techniques. The results are just fantastic. Of course, the invisibility shield's been having some issues, but that'll be the last thing to worry about."

Ron raised his eyebrows. "I don't think so. You'll want to do that right away, Dad—I heard in Muggle Studies that, er, some things like that can't be done once the rest of the things are made. It's like they're already permanent, so you can't… change them…" He was completely making it up, but Arthur was listening intently, and looked discouraged when Ron finished.

"All right, then," Arthur said, and put his fork back on his plate. "Thanks for breakfast, Molly. I'm off to make my car invisible."

Ellie grinned at Fred and George, and sent Ron a thumbs-up. Their plan was underway.

* * *

Days were speeding up, especially at the beginning of August, and Ellie felt her summer slipping away, especially as they planned a date to pick Harry up, finally agreeing on his birthday. Ron had argued that it was too late, and Ellie that it was to soon, but it was still a compromise.

How to get the car would be tricky, but it wasn't undoable. Arthur wasn't stringent on security at all, and usually left the car in an open carport; he rarely used any measures to protect it. As long as they snuck out at night and were as quiet as possible, and if the ride to Little Whinging wasn't too far, they should be back in time to sneak Harry in and leave the car where it belonged.

On the night before their plan, Ellie decided to go outside again. It might be the last night she'd have the spare time, and she also wanted to talk to Fred alone. These were the only hours she had him to herself; as deeply as she loved George, she felt a stronger connection with his brother—a connection that was somewhat cut off when she was hanging out with both of them at the same time.

Luckily he was there too. Somehow he must have known she'd come, because there was a warm vegetarian sub waiting for her as soon as she came downstairs.

"Figured I'd hope for the best," he explained. "It's sort of become our routine."

She laughed and brought it outside with her, sitting once again on the bench. "I don't mind routine if it's a good thing," she said. "People complain about that, but I don't see why."

"They don't have what we have," he explained.

"What do you mean?"

He shrugged. "They complain about routine because it's boring, because they want drama to spice it up. But we have enough interesting spices of our own."

She laughed. "Good metaphor—or whatever that was."

"Description, not metaphor. If it were a metaphor I would've said 'we are pepper.'"

"We are pepper?" she repeated. "Yeah. Well, I'm definitely glad it wasn't a metaphor. And since when have you been lecturing me about schoolwork anyway?"

"Since always, that's what I get for being older," he explained.

"Silly me, I must've forgot." She frowned. "Actually, I did. God, it's like a treat, staying at the Burrow where being annoyingly young doesn't matter. But then I'll go back to Hogwarts and still be a second year, and you'll already be fourth."

"Fourth," he said, grinning. "Has a nice ring to it."

"It's one word."

"But it rings."

"One word can't ring. One _syllable _definitely can't ring."

"Your mum definitely can't ring!"

"Your uncle definitely can't ring!" She thoroughly enjoyed teaching him things like this. Over the past year and a half he'd learned 'your mum' jokes from her, as well as the definitions of words like 'bohemian' and 'indie,' and had gotten a wide selection of good music.

And, of course, there was the band.

"We need to go places this year," Ellie said. "You know. The Weasleys. We'll have Ginny now, so we can actually have more than one concert."

"Two," he corrected. "Sort of two. One in the library with Snape glaring at us the whole time."

"That was a stand, not a concert. But anyway, I mean it. We should have at least two concerts, and maybe we can even go so far as to write our own songs."

He gasped. "No," he said, mocking sarcasm.

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess we could. But covers are kind of our signature thing at this point. We don't have the creativity to write songs, just the talent to cover them! That should be our motto."

"We are some major losers if we have a motto," she announced, taking the last bite of her sub. "God, that was delicious, thanks."

He nodded. "Any time. I enjoy cooking. If worst comes to worst, I'll go be a Muggle cook."

"You actually have to be pretty good to get a paying job as a chef," she said. "Not that you're not, but you might have to Confund them or something."

He looked hurt. "So the only way I can prove I'm worthy is if I confuse them? Thanks, El."

She laughed. "I didn't mean it like that." She hugged her legs to her chest and absentmindedly leaned her head against his shoulder. He didn't flinch; obviously he was getting used to it.

"I still can't decide if I want summer to be over or not," he said.

Ellie, eyelids dropping, nodded a half-inch or so. "I know. But we have some time anyway. And at Hogwarts, it's always as fun as summer."

"I guess." His voice was becoming much less amused than usual.

"I mean," Ellie said, stifling a yawn, "I know there's schoolwork at Hogwarts, and yeah, we get way more freedom here, but…"

"It's still Hogwarts," he finished.

She nodded again. "Yeah."

"Well, at least you'll have the same environment—people-wise. I mean, me, George, Ron, Ginny."

"Ginny." She smiled, and by now her eyes were closed. "I hope she likes it. It feels like she's been waiting forever."

"Because she has," he agreed. "Hey, if you're tired—"

"I'm not tired," she lied. But in a minute or two she was asleep.

* * *

She woke up to the nervous shouts of Molly Weasley.

"Fred? Ellie? Oh, what have I done, where could they be, surely I'm overreacting… FRED! ELLIE! If you're playing a joke…"

Ellie glanced up at Fred, who had clearly also been woken up. He waited patiently for her to sit up, giving her a soft, sweet smile, before removing his arm from where it had draped around the chair. As she scrambled to adjust her hair and fix her clothes, he scratched his cheek tiredly.

"Your mum's going to kill us," she muttered.

"What? You're in a hoodie, I'm in pyjamas. We can just say we came out here early to count the gnomes or something."

"All right, but let's go," Ellie said urgently as Molly's shouts got louder.

"Hey," he said, taking her arm before she reached the front door.

"What?"

He grinned and nodded toward the carport where the flying car was waiting. "Today's the day."

* * *

So we're on to book 2... I'll keep posting pretty quickly, but I'm taking a break for a while. This one's pretty good. They get a lot better. I've written up to 6... 4 was my favorite so far. 3 is good too. 2 is sort of Ellie growing up; by 3 she's basically a teenager. Anyway, keep with it, if you like it. I guess this story is going to get very long... and REVIEW!


	20. The Flying Car

**Chapter 2: The Flying Car**

"Do you know how crazy this is?" Ellie demanded that night as they approached the car.

"Shh!" George scolded. "I thought you were all for saving Harry."

She sighed. She was, and she didn't mind getting into some trouble here and there, but not on levels strict with even the Ministry of Magic. "What if the invisibility thing doesn't work?" she asked. "We could be seen, and… exposed."

"That's what they have memory charms for," Fred said cheerfully. "We won't get in much trouble. Don't worry about it. And anyway, we don't have to if you don't want to."

"No, I do," she admitted. "Now let's go, before I change my mind."

They piled into the car. Fred immediately insisted on driving, and Ellie physically harassed George into giving her the passenger seat (she figured it was the safest, thanks to the airbag—if there even was one). Plus the opportunity to see Fred try to work a Muggle machine would be entertaining, to say the least.

She showed him how to back out, which was much louder a process than she would've liked, and once he was safely out of the carport, he pressed HOVER. The car lurched unpleasantly into the air, and as he lowered his foot to the gas pedal, began to move forward. Ellie glared at him and punched the INVISIBILITY button, hardly believing that he had forgotten.

Once she got over her initial fears, she began to enjoy the ride. It was absolutely beautiful, and the company was hilarious. Ron was being much more carefree than usual, and George less grumpy.

About halfway there (it had taken about fifteen minutes so far), they decided to play a game for the road. George suggested one-word story, Ellie suggested 20 Questions, and Fred suggested Truth or Dare.

"But that's no fair, you can't take dares while driving," Ellie reminded him.

"All right, one-word story, 'cause 20 Questions is too intellectual," Ron declared. Ellie rolled her eyes but succumbed.

"Okay… Once," Ellie said.

"Upon," supplied Ron.

"A," George said.

Fred shook his head. "How cliché. I'm going to go with lobster."

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "Once upon a lobster?"

"It's catchy."

Their story ended up as, "Once upon a lobster in an enchanted elementary school lived a witch named Sue. Sue hated wizards. She was a feminist. Unfortunately she died."

"That was awful," Ellie said when it was over. "And is it wrong that I found it funny?"

"It's what separates the good, the bad, and the very, very weird," Ron explained, "but luckily I found it funny too. Look, Little Whinging, we're close."

"Bloody hell," Fred muttered. "Which one's supposed to be Harry's?" He had a point; all the houses looked exactly alike.

"I dunno, look for bars on the windows," Ellie muttered. To her amazement, he lowered the car a few minutes later to a house with bars on a window.

"I was joking," she choked.

"It was funny," said Ron cheerfully. George, too, was cracking up.

Fred rapped on the window, careful not to get his hand stuck on the bars. Only seconds later, Harry's head appeared; excited, it reappeared in front of the window a few seconds later.

"All right, Harry?" Fred said cheerfully.

"What are you lot doing here?" he asked.

"Rescuing you," Ellie said at the same time as the twins.

"Can't believe they put bloody bars on your windows," Ellie added, pouting understandingly at him. "Has it been like this all summer for you?"

He shrugged. "Pretty much. But things have been a little more exciting than that—if 'exciting' is really the word you're searching for."

She glanced at him curiously, but he didn't have time to elaborate; Fred was already clipping a sharp metal hook onto one of the bars. Without warning he spun the still-hovering car around and stepped on the gas, and a few seconds and a jolt later, the bars were gone.

"Thanks for the warning," George mumbled.

"Anytime," Fred said cheerfully, and reappeared at the window. "Might want to hurry, mate."

Harry nodded eagerly and gathered his things in his trunk. He shoved it across Fred to Ellie, who put it under her feet. When he passed Hedwig and her cage through, Ellie was a little more reluctant, and handed her to the back. There was only so much room.

Ellie could hear the furious voice of Harry's uncle before Harry had gotten in, but she wasn't about to let a guy like that ruin Harry's life any more. "Hurry!" she shouted, and he made a dive for the car. Miraculously he landed halfway in, and they pulled him in and shut the door behind him. By the time Vernon had reached Harry's room, they were already flying away from the house.

"Hey, Harry," Ellie greeted. "Good to see you again."

* * *

"Stay quiet," George warned, "Harry, your excuse is that you were walking."

They were making their way back to the house, squinting to see in the darkness. It was either very late or very early, but at any rate it was out of hours. They tiptoed back to the house and grabbed some food once they were in the kitchen.

"Everyone's still asleep," Ron whispered. "We're good to go. C'mon, Harry."

"Wait," Ellie said, and frowned. "I wanted to talk."

"You'll be able to tomorrow," Ron said, looking the tiniest bit annoyed. She had a feeling it was because she and Harry had bonded a lot at the end of the year, and he sensed it in their attitudes toward each other. She'd always suspected Ron got jealous easily.

She nodded to Ron, shrugged to Harry, and left for Ginny's room. She heard Ron whispering something to Harry, but to her satisfaction there was no response.

Ginny was waiting with bright, eager eyes when Ellie came in.

"He's here?" she asked hopefully and yet dreadfully.

Ellie laughed. "Yeah, Ginny, he's here."

Ginny's expression became immediately nervous. She let out a series of nervous squeals before Ellie had to remind her everyone else was sleeping. "Sorry," said Ginny, "but it's so… wow! Harry Potter, in my house. I thought Ron was exaggerating."

"Exaggerating?"

Ginny blushed. "About being his best friend. I don't exactly associate Ron with popularity."

Ellie shrugged. "Popularity's not exactly an issue at Hogwarts, and anyway, I wouldn't associate it with Harry either. It's just those two who are inseparable."

"Makes me think better of Ron," Ginny admitted.

Ellie laughed and shook her head. "Have you ever even _seen _Harry?"

"Shut up," Ginny said, pouting, but Ellie was actually fairly serious. She didn't understand obsessions with celebrities, especially ones the person hadn't even seen.

"I get that he's famous for a good reason," Ellie said, "but… I wish people would get to know him for real instead of from a distance, you know?"

But Ginny seemed much too squeamish to have a real conversation, so Ellie just changed into pajamas and curled up on her cot and went to sleep. She knew Ginny, and she knew she'd come around.

* * *

Ellie thought it would be Fred who shook her awake a few hours later, but it was actually Harry.

"Wh—" she started, but Harry grabbed her arm and shook his head. _Shh,_ he mouthed.

She rubbed her eyes and carefully rose, creeping behind him out of the room. He headed for the front door, but she refused to share her and Fred's signature spot with anyone else, so she pulled him out the back way instead. "What's going on?" she asked.

"I have to tell you about everything," he explained, "and I wasn't sure when I could."

She reached out to touch her hair, which was disgustingly tangled, and heaved an overdramatic sigh before sitting down on a bench. Resting her head against the brick of the house, she got more relaxed and said, "Okay, sorry. I'm glad you want to tell me."

He nodded. "Okay. Well, three days ago I was going into my room and this… this… _thing _was sitting on my bed. Tiny, rugged, pretty hideous. Called a house elf."

Her eyes widened; it was like hearing those last two sentences had sparked a trigger in her memory. She vividly remembered being taunted by the existence of a cruel house elf in her first two years of existence; her father had hated it, and it her father… why?

"We used to have one," she breathed. "Me and my dad."

Harry obviously seemed surprised and a little annoyed by the change of subject, but also willing to talk about this. "You're remembering more, then? I wish I could remember my first year."

Ellie blushed. "Er—no, sorry. Go on. You found a house elf in your room."

He nodded. "Yeah, I did, and he introduced himself as Dobby and… and told me I can't come back to Hogwarts this year."

This caught her attention. "What? Why?"

He shrugged. "Didn't say exactly—just that I would be in 'grave danger.' Apparently he's been taking my letters from you lot so I would feel unwanted, or something."

"_What_?" she demanded loudly. She blushed and calmed down. "So what happened?"

"He tried to make me promise not to go back, and obviously I refused. So he threatened some things, and in the end my uncle's boss got soaked from desserts and I got bars on my windows."

Ellie sighed. "Wow."

He nodded. "I know. And I haven't seen him since, and I don't know if he's done playing tricks on me or not. I have to say, for someone who claims to be trying to save my life, I don't get a very good vibe from him."

"So you think he's got something else up his sleeve?" she asked.

"Not him, exactly—he seems pretty simple. Maybe his masters? He wouldn't say who they were."

She frowned and nodded. "Maybe. What did Ron say about all this?"

"Nothing. I didn't tell him."

She stared at him for several seconds, surprised. He hadn't told Ron, but he woke up her in the middle of the night to tell her? Last year he'd mostly avoided telling her anything. She was honored, but also a little worried. "Is your friendship okay?" she asked.

He nodded. "It's fine. I just thought…" He looked strained. "I don't know. I keep thinking about the end of the year and how you were there for me. I mean, you jumped over fire and faced death about a thousand times—one time of which I could've sworn you were dead—and it meant a lot, Ellie."

"So you're telling me this as payback?" she asked suspiciously, trying to skip over the painful memory of having _Avada Kedavra _struck at her and only humming at the last possible second to create a shield.

"Not payback in a debt way," he replied, "just in a trustful way. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I just want to know what you think."

But she couldn't let go of it. "Seriously, Harry, you've got to trust your friends. If you trust me, you have to trust the twins, and we both know you trust Ron."

He ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, I'll tell him in the morning," he said. "I'm sorry! I just wanted to tell you first. I thought you'd be glad."

She instantly felt guilty. "I am," she said quickly. "Okay… so, I think it sounds suspicious. It's possible someone sent him to purposefully get you not to come to Hogwarts—not because they think you're in danger, but because they don't like you?"

He shrugged. "It's possible. If it's Malfoy."

She raised her eyebrows. "Draco, really?"

"It's possible," Harry said. "We know he's rich, know he's probably got allies everywhere. And between me, you, and Ron, we gave him almost as much a hard time as he gave us."

"Yeah, but even he doesn't seem capable," she said, frowning. "Well, maybe. We should talk to Ron about it." She gave him a hopeful look and added, "And maybe even Fred and George—I mean, they know a lot more about house elves than us, I bet."

He considered it and finally nodded. "All right. As far as I'm concerned, I can trust all of you by now."

She smiled. "I'm glad." Then she looked around and noticed that it was getting light outside. "We should go back in before their parents wake up," she said, and stood. "I'll talk to you again after breakfast, I guess."

He nodded and followed her in, but they hadn't stepped more than two feet before they heard the confused greeting of Molly Weasley.

"Wh—Ellie? Who is this?"

Ellie felt herself turning red on the spot, not sure whether she was a good liar or not. "Mrs. Weasley," she said, "this is Harry Potter."

Molly's jaw dropped, and Ellie would've laughed if it wasn't completely inappropriate. "Really?" Molly finally got out. "You are?"

Harry laughed slightly. "Yeah, uh, Ron invited me."

Her eyes widened. "He said you weren't returning your letters."

"Not by choice," he said quickly.

"Harry's been very out of contact this summer," Ellie explained to Molly. "But he found out it's not that far here from his place, so… he, er, ran." She blushed.

Molly didn't seem to believe Harry capable of lying, nor Ellie, so she simply beamed. "What a lovely runner you must be," she said cheerfully. "Well, I'll just make some breakfast."

Ellie grinned at Harry, who didn't look as surprised as he would've been the previous year. Fame and awe seemed like old news to him.

* * *

They planned their trip to Diagon Alley for the next week, and the trip to Hogwarts would be the week after. Ellie was thrilled with the prospect of another year of learning about magic, but grudging about the thought of leaving this perfect life she had been living.

"You're just forgetting what it's like," insisted Harry, who had been having heart-to-hearts with her almost every day since she had gotten back. "Hogwarts is fantastic, even better than this. Or at least, not worse." He, too, seemed to sense the magic of the happy, charming, loving family atmosphere of the Burrow. Sometimes she actually felt resentful to the twins for taking it for granted.

"You're probably right," she admitted. "I guess it's just the way I left things."

"What, saving the world wasn't big enough kicks?" he asked. "Ellie, you did great."

She smiled. "Sorry. And thanks. No, saving the world—if you can call it that—was great. But, I mean, a lot of the other things…" She wrinkled her nose. "Need I remind you that Snape's my cousin?"

"Need _I _remind _you _you're an Animagus? That's got to count for something. You can start using your ability again."

She had almost forgotten. Over the summer Ellie hadn't used her ability to change into a dog, because she was afraid the Ministry might find out, and she liked being able to transform. Harry had a point: back at Hogwarts, she wouldn't be watched by the Ministry.

"Sorry," Ellie said, turning to face him. "All we ever do is cheer me up. How are you?"

He shrugged. "Same as always, I guess. Couldn't wait for school all summer. Guess that's why I'm trying to convince you."

"I wish you could've stayed," she said. "It's not fair that I get to live here and you don't."

He shrugged. "Your mum gave permission. I'm not saying my aunt and uncle don't want to get rid of me, but they won't be doing it by dumping me on anyone even a little magical."

"Really?" she asked. "How would they know?"

Harry gave her a very sarcastic look, and she laughed; it was rather obvious. The Weasleys were dysfunctional and crazy, and they both knew that. They both loved it.

* * *

"Come along, now, hustle up," said Molly, pushing them along to the fireplace. "We want to do this quickly. Who wants to explain it to Ellie and Harry?"

Ellie, of course, had traveled by floo with them the previous year. She glanced at Fred, who was grinning and clearly remembered. She said nothing; instead she let George keep thinking she was new.

George grinned. "Okay, guys. What you do is eat the powder—"

"George," Molly scolded.

"You take a scoopful," interrupted Ron, "and step into the fireplace with it—try not to spill. Then just say where you're going and drop the scoopful, and off you'll go."

"Sounds painful," Harry muttered.

"What some call painful, we call fun," George explained. "Are you one of us?"

Ellie rolled her eyes and dug out a handful of the powder from Molly's bowl. Before anyone could stop her, she dropped it into the fireplace and shouted, "Diagon Alley!"

She both hated and loved the sensation of being rooted to the ground yet stretched across space, unpleasantly having her mind smashed and yanked away but also feeling an incredible flying sensation. When she finally felt stillness, she tripped forward and into the Leaky Cauldron, where their Floo Powder was supposed to take them.

Fred and George appeared a few seconds later, looking apprehensive. They relaxed when they saw her.

"You shouldn't have done that," said Fred sternly.

George nodded. "Mum was really worried. Plus it was your first time—you're lucky you didn't end up in Vertic Alley."

"Vertic?" she repeated. "And it wasn't my first, remember?"

George's eyes clouded with realization, and he laughed. "Yeah! Sorry. Anyway…" He shrugged. "Vertic is an unlucky sort of place. Knockturn is even worse."

Ginny appeared a second later; Ellie squealed and hugged her friend before stepping back, spotting the green flames licking at the ankles of Molly and Arthur, who appeared a second later. Percy was next, followed by Ron. They waited patiently for Harry to complete the group.

Twenty seconds in, Ellie knew something was wrong. One minute, everyone did; by two, Molly finally let it out.

"Something's wrong," she mumbled nervously.

_You think? _Ellie thought desperately. Where could he be? They should've let him go in the middle. What if he was still in the house? What if he _wasn't_? He could be anywhere!

"Something wrong?" asked the bartender from across the room.

"Yes," said Arthur, "indeed. I think we've lost Harry Potter."

* * *

Thanks for the reviews everyone! Keep them coming :]


	21. Mayhem

Sorry this took so long! Thanks to kairi6353 for reminding me to update… I still have a lot more I can post, but with applying for colleges and school I've been too busy to remember! I'll post a few chapters tonight and hopefully I'll keep it up.

Anyway, enjoy!

**Chapter 3: Mayhem**

While Arthur frantically searched every contact he had to find Harry, the rest of them began to have some fun. Ron, dumbfounded by losing his best friend, mostly just walked with them, and Ginny, confused, did the same. Ellie, however, felt eager with the rush of excitement at going back.

"Remember Ollivander's last year?" asked Fred nostalgically.

She sighed and nodded. "I was so happy when he gave me my wand. I still say I have the coolest wand in the universe." She fingered her wand proudly from its place in her bag. It was a normal length, cherry, and came from the feathers of a phoenix named Ringo, but its best feature was its intricate design. Ollivander had explained to her that a friend of his had decorated it; it was now lined and beautiful and, most importantly, silver. Silver was the color of Ellie's eyes, the streak in her hair, and as far as she was concerned, her soul.

"Better silver than black," George said cheerfully when she remarked on this. "Not that I find your soul black, El."

She laughed. "Thanks, I appreciate it. So where are we going? Most of these places require Harry, don't you think?"

"We didn't shop with him last year," Fred reminded her.

"We didn't _know _him this time last year," she explained, "and anyway, we've been over this. I know you've always been a little pissed because he kept things from me with Ron last year—"

"We didn't keep anything!" Ron said defensively.

"—but that's over, I trust Harry and he trusts me," she finished.

"We never said it was about that," George said stiffly.

"Yeah, but it was," Fred added easily. "Sorry, El, it's just how we are. Protective of our favourite little surrogate Weasley."

She laughed. She didn't mind; she liked having them feel protective of her. She wanted her freedom, but at the same time she loved them more than anyone else. "So, where to?" she asked.

"Dad's getting our money," said Fred. "Yours too, El."

She felt herself turn a bit red; she hated the thought of Arthur seeing the huge amount of treasure and gold in her vault.

"He said to go on and get measured if we need to," said George, "but I'm fine. We already took care of Ginny," he added, and she nodded, looking disappointed. Clearly she'd been hoping for more. Ellie made a mental note to hand down all her small clothes to Ginny.

"I'm set, too," said Ron. "I shot up a bit this summer but Mum did some weird tricks to them and made them longer."

Ellie nodded. "I'm fine," she agreed. The only growing she had really done that summer was her dark hair, which was already down to the small of her back in thin layers.

"Okay, so… Flourish and Blotts?" Ron suggested.

They nodded and made their ways past the busy streets and into Flourish and Blotts, the bookstore, which was much more crowded than usual.

"What's going on?" asked Ellie, confused. But she stopped when she spotted a very familiar face.

"Hermione!" she shouted.

The face spun around and broke into a smile when it saw Ellie. Hermione ran over to her and hugged her, and Ellie returned it much more willingly than even she had expected.

She had missed Hermione. Hermione was the only female friend she'd ever really had, and they'd gotten a lot closer toward the end of the year. Unlike Ellie and Harry, they had been writing each other constantly over the summer; Ringo had been fed up with Ellie several times over it.

"Fred, George," Hermione greeted with a nod when she was released from Ellie's grip. Then she gave an uncomfortable smile to Ron and extended a hand.

As they awkwardly shook, Ellie exchanged amused glances with the twins.

"Guys, these are my parents," Hermione said when she was finished, gesturing behind her to two very Muggle-looking adults who were smiling politely.

"Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Granger," Ellie said in chorus with the others. She was the only one not completely awed by the Muggle air about them; she had grown up with her mother, who was as good as a Muggle.

"Hey! You lot! Over here!"

Ellie, who felt almost amused about the rush of things happening, turned to see Hagrid walking next to a very ashen-faced, very confused-looking Harry Potter.

"Harry!" Hermione shouted, and ran over to him. Ellie and Ron followed shortly behind.

As Harry and Hermione hugged, Ron closed in on the questions. "Where were you? What happened? Why are you with Hagrid?"

"Landed himself in Knockturn Alley," Hagrid said with a nervous tut, "which is not a good place ter be going. 'Specially not for you, Harry."

Ellie glanced at Ron, whose eyes had widened substantially; not long ago they had been discussing Knockturn as one of the worst places to turn up.

"Well, I'm fine," Harry reminded them, "although I _do _have to talk to you about something. Later."

"Harry!" a voice shouted from a very lengthy distance. Molly came running up to him, face red. "I'm so glad he's found you! Arthur, we've found him!"

Arthur smiled as he walked up to them, pushing a cart full of money bags, the nicest and largest of which Ellie guiltily recognized as her own.

"Hey, why's there a crowd at Flourish and Blotts?" asked Harry, clearly wanting to change the subject.

"Gilderoy Lockhart," Hermione explained with a swoon. "He's come here!"

As they caught up with the twins, about ten eyes stared blankly at Hermione.

"You haven't heard of _Gilderoy Lockhart_?" she asked, sounding astonished. "Honestly! Well, he's hardly one not to know about—completely smart—handsome—amazing—"

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered.

"Anyway, he's the author of many books, and he's here for the signing." She smiled and lifted a book called _Magical Me,_ which had a very large, fancy signature on it.

"Which explains why everyone in line is female," Ellie said with a grin. "Sorry, boys."

Harry, Ron, and the twins all grimaced accordingly before following them inside. Seconds later Ron was nearly trampled by a reporter, and seconds after that Gilderoy Lockhart spotted Harry.

"Harry Potter!" he exclaimed, his eyes not even glancing over Ellie, Ron, Ginny, or the twins. "Come along, boy—together you and I are worth the front page."

Without further warning Harry was pulled forward and shoved into an uncomfortable-looking hug. A very awkward passing of conversation and recording went by as Lockhart gave Harry free books and a few more awful hugs, and then he made an announcement that really did shock all of them: he was to be the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher of Hogwarts.

"Gross," Ellie whispered to the twins. "He's so… curly-haired."

"I think it's kind of cute," Ginny whispered back. "He's very handsome."

Ellie joined the twins in fake gagging; his pale skin, reddish hair and fine posture were all traits that made her want to retch, not swoon.

When Harry was finally let go, he dumped the books uncomfortably into Ginny's bin and shuffled away, head bowed, cheeks red. Ellie fully planned on teasing him about it later.

"Shut up," he muttered as they started for the door.

She grinned.

"Shut up."

"You two could _definitely _make the front cover," she remarked cheerfully.

"Shut up."

"Maybe you can teach the class with him!" she suggested brightly, then proceeded to toy with his hair in perfect imitation of Lockhart.

He glared at her, but could only hold it for a second or two before they both cracked up.

"You two spend way too much time together," George said, shaking his head.

"You're one to talk," Ginny said, rolling her eyes and grinning at Ellie.

Ellie tried to find a witty response, but was interrupted by none other than Draco Malfoy, one of her least favourite people in the world.

"Poor Harry Potter," he said snidely from his spot at his father's side. "Can't even go in a bookstore without making the front page."

Ellie rolled her eyes. "I think he'll manage."

Draco glared at her. "Back to being his girlfriend again, Bretherworth, or are you going to be _their _shadow again this year?" He jutted his chin out at the twins.

"Leave them alone," Ginny snarled with a surprising amount of wrath for such a lovable girl.

Draco looked amused. "I'd better watch out," he said sarcastically. "Looks like you've got another Weasley defending you this year—lucky you."

"Now, now, Draco," said Lucius, walking up to his son and resting a hand on his shoulder. "Haven't I taught you to be polite to those less fortunate?"

"Honestly, he's not very good at being insulting anyway, sir," Ellie said to Lucius boldly.

Lucius's eye twitched, but he turned instead to Arthur and said, "How are things at the Ministry, Arthur? Late hours, I hear. I do hope they're paying you overtime… Then again, judging by the state of these books, I'd say not." He smirked and dropped a book none of them recognized into Ginny's bin.

"We'll manage," Arthur said with difficulty.

"I should hope so," he said snidely, and his eyes flickered over Mr. and Mrs. Granger with interest and disgust. "Then again, you're not getting far right now… associating with Muggles…" He _tsk'_d his tongue and beckoned for Draco to follow him out of the room.

"They're jerks," Ellie said, shaking her head.

"Let's go," Molly said, and they did, no one quite as cheerful as they had been.

xXxXx

The rest of their Diagon Alley outing was spent buying animal supplies, wand caretaking kits, and all the other remaining things they needed, which only took another hour or so. Their arms were aching from pushing their heavy carts by the time they left.

The last week at the Burrow was just as it had been the year before: mixed between making Ellie feel miserable and excited.

They got out their instruments and played two days before they were set to leave, something they had pretty much neglected to do all summer. The year before, their band, The Weasleys, had performed at a small Christmas dance and received major praise; the teachers had even let Ginny come to Hogwarts to play bass for them. They were hoping to perform again this year.

They sounded great for a band that hadn't played in a long time. Ellie let Fred sing most of the time, only joining in for one Joan Jett song and then their favourite, _What a Scene, _which she had very large experiences with. Harry, who hadn't heard much of them, was especially excited for them.

On the last night, Ellie put all her faith into mind messages between herself and Fred. Unfortunately mind messages didn't work, because she found herself facing an empty kitchen.

She didn't want to knock on his door, because then she would wake up George, and as much as she loved him, this had gotten to be something she shared with Fred only. So she went into her room and got out something she hadn't had to use all summer, and which she had almost forgotten about: her locket.

Fred had given it to her as a birthday present. It glowed whenever he thought about her, and his matching ring glowed whenever she thought about him. The best part was that they both displayed messages, and the additional Christmas present he had given her allowed them to see and talk to each other when desired.

She pulled out the locket, opened it, and concentrated on a message—he wasn't opening his to talk to her. She wasn't supposed to use magic, but she knew there was no way her tracking charm would pick this up. Once her locket (and, she knew, his ring) read _kitchen _in glowing letters, she pulled on a jacket and grabbed her guitar before stepping back into the hallway, sure not to wake Ginny.

"Hey," he greeted when she reached the kitchen. His expression was worried. "I was planning on being here before you did—I don't know why, but I fell asleep—"

She laughed, relieved and amused. "It happens," she said with a warm smile. "No problem. Here now, aren't you?"

He smiled and relaxed. "Here, and armed," he replied, lifting a delicious-looking sub sandwich. "Veggie patty, I presume?"

She grinned and snatched it from him. "I brought my—_our_—guitar, too," she said, gesturing to the guitar she had brought. They had pretty much shared it, since they only needed one guitarist; whoever sang didn't play, and whoever played didn't sing, except on rare occasions where they both did, in which Ellie immediately got domain; she was, honestly, the better player.

"Excellent," he said with an easy grin. "Let's take it outside." He held the door open for her, keeping his sub unpleasantly stuffed in his mouth. She hauled everything outside and plopped down on the bench. He joined her a few seconds later.

"So, tomorrow," she said, heaving a sigh.

"Tomorrow," he repeated, shaking his head. "Back to what we're best at."

She laughed. "Easy for you to say. You just have to look cute and do evil things."

He beamed. "You think I'm best at looking cute? Thanks, El, I had no idea." He ducked when she aimed a hit at him.

"At least I don't have to look like a newbie this year," she said. "I get to watch Ginny get Sorted, too."

"It was pretty funny last year," Fred said cheerfully. "Watching you freak out and all."

"Well, you remember what the Hat told me, right?" she asked, not really wanting to think about it. It had told her that her name was 'not a name, but a disguise,' and that her father had been a Gryffindor.

"Yeah," he admitted. "That part wasn't so funny."

She sighed, basking in what little she knew about herself, before pulling herself together. "Let's play something," she suggested quietly.

"Sure," he said, and nodded. "What?"

"How about your favourite?" he suggested.

She shrugged. "_What a Scene_? Kind of overused, I think."

"Nah, not that. The first one you played—you didn't sing the words, but that tune was really catchy." His eyes glistened a little, surprising her.

"_Wonderwall,_" she realized, and nodded. "Okay. Uh… pen?"

"Out here?"

She laughed. "Fine," she said, and handed him the guitar. She stooped to the ground and grabbed a stick, proceeding to scribble the lyrics into the dirt in front of them. She sat back next to him and took back the guitar, showing him the chord fingerings.

It was a perfect minute if there ever was.

But then it was over, and with it went their summer.

xXxXx

"Platform 9 ¾, this way!" Molly said, just as she had the previous year. Ellie could tell by the glint in Harry's eye that he remembered it, too.

"I think we're late," Ellie muttered to Fred, having to nearly run to catch up with the impossibly fast Molly. "By a lot, I'm guessing."

He shrugged. "Hogwarts will understand. George and I have noticed the professors are more lenient the first day."

"Except Snape, of course," George said, having heard himself mentioned. "He's never lenient. And he can smell _anything. _Even substances we've invented."

She raised her eyebrows. "You've invented substances already?"

"Oh, Ellie." Fred smiled and shook his head. "The things you miss when you're off in your first-year classes."

"Second-year now," she reminded him happily. "And proud. Here we are."

She glanced at Fred, silently asking whether he'd be going first; he gestured for George to go, then gently took her wrist and went through with her. She tried to ignore the tingles she felt at this, and instead focused on the wonderful feeling she was getting from being back at the Hogwarts Express station.

"We're definitely riding together this time," Fred said.

"Yeah, didn't we abandon you for other third-years last year, or something?" asked George. When she gave him a grudging nod, he shrugged. "Sorry. Must not have thought you were as cool back then."

"Yeah, you've paid your dues and everything now," Fred explained.

"What about your brother and his friends?" she asked. "Also known as _my _friends?"

"S'pose they can come, too, if they manage to drag their scrawny arses out here," George said, turning and looking for them. "They were right behind us, weren't they?"

She bit her lip.

"Ellie, Fred, George!" hissed a voice. They spun around to see Hermione's face leaning out of an open window. "Come on, the train's about to leave!"

Ellie was worried about Harry and Ron, but didn't have time to linger. Hermione was right; the train was gearing up. She succumbed to Fred and George's eager looks and followed them onto the train, sitting next to Hermione. Fred sat next to her, and George, Lee Jordan, and Neville were on their other side.

"Sort of a strange gathering of people," Hermione mused quietly.

Ellie grinned and said nothing; Fred looked just as amused.

"I'm Lee Jordan," Lee said to Neville, since they hadn't met before.

"I know," Neville said cheerfully, then blushed. "I mean—I'd seen you at all the Quidditch games, of course—great came, Quidditch —"

"He's Neville Longbottom," Ellie explained for Neville, glad to embarrass someone about their last names for a change.

"Good to meet you, Neville," Lee said, and nodded. It was at that moment that the doors to the train closed. Ellie swallowed and, making a split decision, stood.

"El?" Fred asked, raising his eyebrows.

She sighed. "Harry and Ron wouldn't miss the train if their lives were at steak. Something's wrong." She glanced at Hermione, their best friend, who nodded and also stood. The two girls carefully exited their compartment and made their way to the front, not sure who they would find.

The only professor on board turned out to be Gilderoy Lockhart. Ellie didn't want to talk to him, but she didn't know who else to ask. Hermione, meanwhile, looked thrilled with the idea.

"Come _on, _Ellie, he's just amazing," Hermione insisted, and yanked her into the compartment. Lockhart was alone, autographing pictures of himself. Ellie worked very hard not to laugh.

"Professor, sir!" Hermione gushed, nearly falling over, when he looked up.

He smiled. "Fans? Students? Marvelous! What are your names?"

"Hermione Granger," Hermione stuttered. "She's Ellie. Sir, I'm a huge fan, I especially loved—"

"We actually came for your help," Ellie interrupted. "Two friends of ours who go to Hogwarts were right behind us at King's Cross, but they didn't come through the platform after us, and now they've missed the train. Do you know who we should talk to?"

He looked baffled by this kind of question. "Not many adults on here, I'll admit," he said. "Perhaps you should speak with the conductor? I could always do a Tracking Spell if you want, but I think it would be rather disastrous if I did anything like call for him."

"That would be excellent!" Hermione said, at the same time Ellie insisted, "That's all right."

Hermione sort of pouted but didn't argue her case.

"Well, I'd speak to the conductor if I were you."

"Now, sir, could you tell me a little about your experiences in Rome?" Hermione asked, forgetting all about their missing friends.

Ellie sighed and left, making her way to the conductor's compartment at the head of the train and knocked.

"Real busy," he shouted. "It an emergency?"

"Some of my friends didn't get on," she shouted, "they were right behind me at King's Cross."

"Nothin' I can do, sorry, dear," he shouted back, and turned back to the window. She sighed and made her way back to her seat, plopping tiredly next to Fred. She had no idea what had happened to Harry and Ron, or how they would manage to get to school.

xXxXx

I'll have the next one up in a few!


	22. Back Again

Sorry that my chapter titles seem to be getting less and less creative.

**Chapter 4: Back Again**

The train ride was long and all Ellie could think about was Harry and Ron, but if not for that it would've been a lot of fun. Fred and George tried everything they could to cheer her up, and while Hermione didn't come back for quite a while, Lee and Neville were also a lot of fun to spend time with. Ellie could already tell the year was going to be just as good, if not better, than the last.

She wasn't sure she was ready when they reached the school. She'd changed into her rooms and was ready physically, just not mentally. Peering out the window and seeing the huge, shadowy yet brilliant castle made her long for it and yet long for home in a way.

But she realized with easy strength that this was it. The Burrow was a place she loved, perhaps more than this, like a vacation place. But when it came to home, the place she would trace her roots to in the future, she knew it would be here, between the twins she had befriended so well, doing things she'd regret in a few days, having more fun than ever. There was no better way to live.

The second the doors opened, she grabbed Fred and George's arms and dragged them into the first carriage they found. The three of them sat safely, but Ellie was in such a hurry that she yelled the carriage into leaving without the others. She had no idea why it worked, but she shrugged and waved to Hermione, Lee, and Neville, who were left looking confused.

The carriage still seemed to know Ellie was in a hurry, and they ended up passing several others on the trip to the school. When they finally got there, Ellie practically flew out and into the castle, panting, and didn't sit at the table in the Great Hall but kept right on walking until she reached the staff table. Dumbledore wasn't there yet, but Minerva McGonagall, her Head of House, was.

"Professor!" Ellie said, stopping to catch her breath.

McGonagall looked amused. "Nice to see you again, too, Ellie."

Ellie smiled a bit, marveling at McGonagall's use of her nickname, but then shook it away and said, "Professor, I was with Harry and Ron at King's Cross, and we waited inside for them, but they never showed up… and they never got on the train, and I'm really worried about them!"

"Don't be," said a voice from beside them, and Ellie turned to see Severus Snape, sitting at his spot at the table and looking calm, collected, and the usual amount evil.

This was her uncle.

Half uncle, really; he was her mother's half brother. They had ended things strangely the year before; she had confronted him about it, and he hadn't denied it. She didn't see why he hated her so much if she was his niece, but she supposed he and her dad must not have gotten along well.

And then there was everything that she had learned about her dad… and more importantly, everything she hadn't…

"Why?" McGonagall asked him. "What have you heard?"

"They've found their own way of getting here, Minerva," Snape said coldly, and slapped a letter on the table. It contained a wizard picture of the sky, with a car moving across it.

Ellie gasped. Fred and George both pinched her.

"Is that a—a—"

"Flying car? Yes, it is," Snape said, snatching the letter back. "Three Muggles have reported the sighting, and this was taken by a wizard in the area. There are going to be some serious Memory Charms taking place, and that means some serious trouble."

"That, I believe, will be my job to decide, if not Albus's," McGonagall interjected. "Last I checked, Potter and Weasley were in Gryffindor."

Snape glared at her, then turned to the three students and snapped, "To your tables!"

Ellie nodded and quickly spun around and headed to her table, still trying to process what had just happened. She sat between the twins, both who were just as wide-eyed as she was.

"Bloody hell," she managed.

"We are related to an idiot," George said, shaking his head. "A pure, sodding idiot."

"This isn't news," said Fred, a little more cheerfully. "And anyway, it's not like we won't be able to see him get in trouble for it." He grinned deviously.

The rest of the students started filing in, an exhausted Hermione plopping in front of Ellie. Lee and Neville arrived a few moments later. Ellie had seen them all on the train, but not Dean and Seamus, and when they came, she jumped out of her chair and hugged them.

Everyone was excited, and she felt sure now more than ever that this was where she wanted to be. Dean sat next to Hermione and across from Fred, and Seamus next to him, so that there were no seats anywhere around them; this wasn't disappointing until Ellie turned to see Oliver Wood standing behind her.

"Oliver!" she squealed, disgustedly conscious of her girlishness, and stood again. She hesitated, not sure what to do with where they had left things, but to her relief he didn't seem to find it awkward. It was one of the things that had made him easy to be her first crush: nothing about him was awkward. He smiled and stooped down a little, offering her a warm, easy hug. It wasn't nearly as comforting as her hugs with either of the twins, but nice nonetheless.

"No seats," he said, and said with both sarcasm and a grin, "Thanks, El."

She shrugged. "Sorry, it's their fault. Catch up with you in the common room?"

"Count on it," he replied, and pushed past them, over to the other sixth-years. Even though the term 'sixth-year' sounded ages away, she felt closer to his age now that she was a second-year.

Not that it meant anything at all. She'd tried Oliver. There was too much of a gap, and too much less experience on her part. And anyway, that wasn't what this year was going to be about.

"That was interesting," Fred whispered to her when she sat back down. "I thought you were done with the Oliver mania?"

She shrugged. "I am. We're still friends, though." Honestly, that wasn't the complete truth: at the end of the year last year, they had left things very open. She had promised him that some day, in the future, there might be a chance for them again.

He'd also promised her he understood her decision, though, something she chose to remember more than the other.

Everyone was seated, and Fred didn't have time to say anything more before Dumbledore swept in and took his spot at the head of the room. He cleared his throat, and everyone went silent.

"Welcome home," he said with a warm smile.

That was as much assurance as she could possibly need.

xXxXx

Ellie got to watch everyone get sorted, and gave louder applause than anyone when Ginny was chosen for Gryffindor; and when Ginny had no one to sit with, Ellie yanked her down and shared a chair. It was a happy night, full of delicious food and laughter. If she wasn't worried about jinxing it, she'd call it perfection.

At least, the part of it that didn't include Harry and Ron being gone.

She went with everyone else back to the common room, breaking into a run in order to claim the best sofa. Percy attempted yelling at her, but as usual, had little honest authority; and she was at the front of the line of students when he pushed his way to the front and said the password.

She had no trouble claiming the sofa, and Fred and George sat with her, Ginny and Hermione each taking an arm, which was clearly uncomfortable; but they didn't complain.

"Harry and Ron are taking forever," Hermione said quietly.

"Reckon McGonagall's giving them their punishment," Ellie said, and rolled her eyes when Fred and George grinned and nodded at each other.

"Classes start tomorrow," Ginny said, her eyes wide and bright. "I can't wait—I just—ow!" Loveable klutz that she was, Ginny was now on the floor, having fallen from the uncomfortable arm of the sofa.

"Oh, Ginny," Ellie said with a grin, and shook her head. "C'mon." She got up and plopped Ginny in her old spot, ignoring the pouting pleas from Fred and George to stay. Honestly those looks made her feel thrilled and needed, though she'd never admit it.

But she had promised Oliver she'd find him, and besides him, she'd scarcely said a few words to Dean, Seamus, Lavender, and Parvati all night. Luckily they were all gathered around a table, and it wasn't hard for her to pull up a chair beside Seamus.

"Hey," he greeted, and nodded to Dean. "We were just talking about you."

She raised her eyebrows, but they didn't elaborate, and she could tell it was nothing serious.

"It's great to see you!" Lavender squealed. "How was your summer?"

Ellie shrugged. "All right." Then she grinned and admitted, "Amazing. It was so much fun."

"Yeah, you stayed at Ron's, right?" asked Parvati, who didn't seem jealous at all. If anything, Lavender did, though Ellie had no idea why.

But she nodded. "Yep, they call it the Burrow. It was great."

Lavender twitched a little. The boys seemed laid-back.

"If it isn't Miss Bretherworth," said a voice from behind her. She turned and looked up to see Oliver Wood, there again, tall and beautiful.

"This table just got cool," said Lavender with a grin, noticing the looks their area was getting from the rest of the Gryffindors since Oliver had joined them.

He laughed. "You second-years aren't cool enough for me, I guess." Then he glanced at Ellie and added, "Except you. Fancy a walk?"

She smiled uncertainly. Was she ready to be thrust back into the Oliver drama? Not nearly. But did she think she was a little more comfortable around him? Definitely.

It was too late to go outside, so they just strolled the length of the common room, not saying everything for several moments until Oliver spoke.

"How are you?"

She smiled. "I'm really good. This summer was fantastic, and I know the year will be, too."

"It will." He grinned. "Everything gets better after your first year. Guess that's how it always is."

"If it's going to be better than last year, it's going to be really something," she reminded him. "I don't know if we can handle it."

"You said 'we,'" he said, sounding cheerful.

She stiffened. How had he taken it?

"It's fine, I know." He sounded amused. "I don't think of us as a couple, El. And don't worry, I'm not waiting around for you. I even had a thing with a girl this summer, but she was…" He shrugged. "Very blond. Anyway, I just want things to be comfortable with us. And if something ever can happen…"

"I'll be sure to let you know," she finished for him. "It's a good plan. And you're right, not now. The year's just started, and anyway, I think someone my age would be better."

He laughed. "Hurts, but I'll survive. Can I ask you a more personal question?"

"Sure, but I might not answer."

He laughed a little nervously, something she didn't usually get from him. "Well," he said, "I was just wondering… it's not one of the twins, is it? Fred?"

She raised her eyebrows. "What, that I like? Of course not. I don't like anybody."

He nodded. "Okay. I mean, that would've been fine, but… you know. I just wanted to know."

She wasn't sure what to say.

"We can be friends, right?" he asked, turning to look at her, his sharp eyes asking fairly.

She smiled. "Of course we can," she assured him, and they met for another short, sweet, but unsatisfying hug before she turned to leave him. When she did, she spotted Ron and Harry walking in.

"Ellie," Harry greeted when she approached him. "I hear you made quite a fuss over us."

She laughed. "I was worried. What happened? Why couldn't you get onto the platform? What did they do as punishment?"

"Detention," Ron replied. "Not the worst that could happen."

"Close, though," said Harry. "I'll be with Lockhart."

Hermione looked up from the table she was sitting at and ran over to them. "What's this about Lockhart?"

"Nice to see you, too, Hermione," Ron said by way of greeting.

She rolled her eyes. "Sorry, good to see you. So Harry, you'll be spending detention with him?"

Harry nodded. "I'd prefer cleaning trophy cases with Filch, though. That's what Ron's doing."

Ron grinned. "Believe it or not, I'm not complaining. Better that than Loonheart."

Hermione glared at them. "Ellie, fancy going upstairs?"

Ellie laughed and followed her up for the night.

xXxXx

Hermione and Ellie had been friends the year before, but Ellie could tell there was something about Hermione's personality that was more open this year. She seemed much friendlier, much more willing; though she still had her attributes, she'd toned down some of the bad ones.

Ellie could tell that, as Oliver had hinted, this year was going to be even better than the last. Where everyone was new and unfamiliar the year before, now they were settled with each other. She could tell Dean and Seamus felt completely comfortable around her, and as she settled into bed, Parvati and Lavender chatted with her more than they had before. Harry and Ron had been more open about secrets, and Oliver too seemed more intent on keeping a friendship with her. The only ones who hadn't changed were Fred and George, and she didn't mind; they were her best friends, and had been since they met.

Ellie listened to her MP3 player for an hour or so while Hermione read one of Lockhart's books and Parvati and Lavender speed-talked. Ellie knew they would go to sleep at a reasonable hour, though, because they tried hard for good grades. Although Hermione did too, Ellie knew her better.

Once Parvati and Lavender were asleep, Ellie pulled out her headphones and Hermione crawled onto Ellie's bed, dark eyes bright.

"So?" Hermione asked. "What are things like with Oliver?"

Ellie laughed. "Nonexistent. Well, maybe not nonexistent, but toned down a lot. I told him I don't expect anything to happen, and he said he does want to be friends. That's where I want it."

Hermione nodded. "Probably a smart choice. He _is _really old. If we were still Muggles, he'd be in college by the time you reached high school."

Ellie didn't like to think about it.

"Sorry," Hermione said, blushing. "I'm probably just jealous. You know."

Ellie knew. She didn't like to think about it, because she honestly didn't _want _it, but Ellie was attractive. She considered herself scrawny, too skinny, and awkward, but she knew most people didn't. She and Hermione had had a kind of spat about it the year before. Ellie would be fine with looking like Hermione, Parvati, or Lavender, but the truth was she didn't.

"What about you?" Ellie asked. "How's everything going with…" She shrugged. "Life?"

Hermione laughed. "Not much going on to ask about, I s'pose, especially compared with you."

"I bet that's not true," Ellie said, frowning. "C'mon, then, anything going on with Ron? Harry? Anybody in the summer with your parents?"

Hermione shook her head. "I don't like anyone back home. I used to talk about magic when I was a child, so everyone there thinks I'm this huge loon. I love my parents, of course, so my summer was fine—but still. None of them back home."

Ellie nodded. "I understand. I didn't talk about magic because I knew about it, but I knew what people would think. And the boys home sucked for me, too—the ones that weren't my friends just spread rumours about my mum and dad."

Hermione nodded. "Because your dad wasn't there?"

"Yeah." Ellie didn't want to talk about herself anymore. "So, lessons tomorrow. See you in the morning?"

Hermione nodded, went back to her own bed, and went to sleep.

xXxXx

Ellie woke up several hours early the beautiful light of her locket. When she flipped it open, she saw the words _cmn room _flickering across it, though he wasn't displayed. Still, she'd have to go; Fred wanted to hang out with her, and she always wanted to hang out with him.

She was glad; nighttime rituals were their thing. She slipped into her robes, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and went down the stairs. She was amused to see that he was still in his pyjamas.

"Oh, El, you didn't have to dress up for me," he said with a grin when he saw her, and handed her a cold vegetarian sub sandwich. She took it gratefully.

"Apparently you didn't have to dress up for me, either," she replied, and sat next to him on the couch, propping her legs on his. She didn't think twice about it; it was just Fred, after all. But as soon as she didn't think twice about it, she did, and it was strange.

She'd never really hesitated on the question of their relationship before. Every time it came into her mind, she blocked it out. There were a lot of boys she could end up dating, but Fred wasn't one of them. Fred was her best friend. Anything else could ruin their beautiful friendship.

But here she was, eating subs with him at five in the morning, and she was thinking about it.

"Sickle for your thoughts," he said, glancing at her.

"Nothing really," she replied quickly. "Just wondering what today will be like. I've forgotten a lot about Hogwarts, I have to admit."

"That's awful," he scolded. "I cherish my Hogwarts moments over long summers at the Burrow."

"Oh, you love your house and you know it," she snapped teasingly, shaking her head. "It rocks. Plus you have me now, or at least the past two summers."

He raised his eyebrows. "So you really aren't planning on staying next summer?"

She shrugged. "I'm not sure yet. I mean, of course I want to—it's always fun. But I haven't seen my mum in ages, she's probably forgotten about me."

"Oh, El, no one could forget about you," he said in a fond voice, resting his elbows easily against her legs so he could prop his sub to his mouth more easily. She found herself again struggling not to read into it.

They sat in silence for a bit until Fred finished his sub. He chewed, swallowed, and spoke again. "The Weasleys," he said. "We need a show soon."

She nodded in agreement. "Definitely. We should talk to McGonagall about it soon."

And without further hesitation, they summoned their instruments and got to practicing.

xXxXx

They were pretty much the alarm clock for the rest of the dorm, joined by George and Ginny about an hour later. Ten minutes after that, Harry and Ron met Hermione at a table, voices lowered and eyes alert. Ellie set her guitar down and made her way to them, again feeling gnawingly curious.

"Hey, Ellie," Harry said when he saw her. Ron and Hermione looked uncertain, but Harry seemed sure he could trust her. It was about time. "We were just talking about everything."

She laughed. "Way to be specific."

He blushed a little. "Everything odd this year, I mean—Dobby and Malfoy, mostly."

She grinned and pulled up a chair. "There's a thought. I'm sure they're in cahoots." Harry laughed, but Hermione and Ron looked almost annoyed. "Sorry," Ellie continued. "What's the latest?"

"Nothing much about Dobby," said Harry, "but we're definitely suspecting that Malfoy's up to something. And his dad's no better either—apparently he was probably a Death Eater. When I was caught up in Knockturn Alley, I saw Lucius there. He was saying some curious things."

Something caught in Ellie's throat. She hated thinking about Death Eaters. She had grown up being told her father was one, and couldn't hate them as much as she should; but when she met Voldemort the year before, she was convinced otherwise. Now she avoided the topic.

The rest of the conversation had a lot of theories and probably not much proof. Ron and Hermione listened carefully, but Ellie didn't think it was such a big deal; Harry seemed overly worried.

When she had given her not-needed input on the topic, she left in search of better company. Fred and George were catching up with the other fourth years, finished with jamming, and Ellie wasn't in the mood to hang out with Oliver again. Finally she spotted Dean and Seamus talking in a corner.

"Class in an hour," she greeted when she reached them. "And double History—my favourite."

Seamus grinned. "It's not all bad. We can play a game or whatever. Binns won't notice a thing."

They were definitely back.

xXxXx

Breakfast went smoothly, as usual with Ellie sitting between the twins and across from the other trio, with one amusing moment when Ron received an angry Howler from his mother about the car. Breakfast rolled right into their double History of Magic lesson. They did end up playing a little 20 Questions, but got bored and resorted to notes instead. Harry, Ron, and Hermione were too far away, and Seamus was asleep, so Dean and Ellie passed them alone.

_So what are you doing this weekend? _

Not much. Laughing at Harry and Ron in detention.

_Ha, I'd already forgotten about their car thing. Who's the teacher for detention?_

Lockhart. Lucky them.

_That'll be interesting. So, d'you want to do some practicing with me on Saturday?_

Ellie didn't read much into it. Dean had helped her out a lot with her Perelli charm (a huge shield that blocked any spells, or really _anything, _from hitting her) the year before, and she'd been impressed.

Sure, sounds fun. When and where?

_I found a spare room. It's actually really cool. Take you there at 1? We can grab lunch._

Sure, 1's good. Want to go to Hagrid's after?

_Yeah, I haven't seen him yet._

"Miss Bretherworth, Mr. Thomas," scolded Binns when Ellie caught the note Dean tossed her. "Please stop disrupting my classroom; some of the students here would like to learn."

Ellie doubted that, but both she and Dean apologized and went back to taking real notes.

xXxXx

When Ellie told Hermione in the courtyard at lunch, her reaction wasn't quiet.

"That is _totally _asking you out!" Hermione shrieked.

Fred and George glanced up at them. "Who?" asked Fred somewhat protectively. To say Ellie didn't notice would be a lie.

She sighed. She didn't like talking to them about boys. If Fred wasn't her best friend—and wasn't completely uninterested in her—she'd want him. If she could have her way, she'd have him right now.

She shook her thoughts away. What was she thinking? Occasionally she wondered, but before this week she'd never really admitted it to herself before.

"Dean Thomas," Hermione told Fred. "He wants to 'practice spells' with her." She used very sarcastic quotations when explaining.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "When did you get so girly, Hermione?" Luckily it shut Hermione up, at least temporarily.

"You should go for it," suggested Ron. "Dean's pretty cool. Doesn't snore or anything."

"Yeah, unlike you, Ron," snorted Harry, who had been rather quiet throughout the conversation.

Ron grumbled something in response, and Ellie bit her lip in frustration. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

xXxXx

I'll put up one or two more before I go to bed. Hope you like the updates!


	23. Hearing Things, Thinking Things

**Chapter 5: Hearing Things, Thinking Things**

Ellie still didn't think much of it when she came into the common room on Saturday morning. The week had been fantastic, and nothing had been awkward with Dean at all; she seriously doubted Hermione's insistence that it was to be a date.

Like a lot of students did on weekends, she was wearing normal Muggle clothes. She saw when she came over to him that he was, too.

"Hey," she greeted easily.

"Hey," he replied. "You ready?" He was fumbling a little, but seemed fine.

"Yeah," she said easily, and followed him outside. "You know any of the house elves? The twins are friends with them, so we always get the best food."

Dean laughed. "Nah, I don't know 'em. Think now's a good time to start?"

She grinned and nodded, leading him to the left of the Great Hall and into the kitchens. A few of the house elves greeted Ellie with familiarity; they had met her with Fred and George, who they loved.

"Hey, everyone," Ellie greeted. "This is my friend Dean."

Dinkle, one of Ellie's favourites, scanned Dean curiously. She was a small little house elf with a very big opinion of everything. "He's cute," she said in a squeaky voice.

Dean grinned at Ellie.

"I will make food," Dinkle continued, and snapped her fingers. The other house elves rushed off into a frenzy of clanking pots and pans before serving them each a plate of sesame tofu, rice, and noodles.

Ellie laughed. "I like the vegetarianism, but the ethnicity? When did you start making Chinese?" Seeing Dinkle's expression, she added, "I mean, thanks—I love Chinese."

"Dinkle and the elves wants Miss Ellie and Mr. Dean to have the best variety they can," Dinkle explained. "Too much English food, too much!"

Ellie smiled. "Well, thanks so much. I'll stop by and visit tomorrow, if you like. Fancy hanging out?"

Dinkle's eyes widened. She wasn't used to 'hanging out' with witches and wizards. Still, she nodded eagerly, and the other elves seemed excited, too.

Ellie and Dean left, Ellie following Dean and watching his expression closely. "What?"

He smiled. "Nothing—it's just so cute. Your little relationship with the elves."

She laughed. "I'm not turning into a hardcore activist or anything, but I've always thought they were cute. And, honestly, I don't care if it's what they like doing—serving us is no way to live."

He nodded. "It really isn't," he said, and she could tell he wasn't just agreeing to agree. "I'm guessing you're somewhat of a hardcore activist about vegetarianism?"

"No," she said, "it's just what I am. You eat meat, that's fine, but I can't."

"I don't eat meat," he said in his defense. "Well, okay, not much. Hardly ever at Hogwarts."

"Gold star for you, then," she said with a grin, and stopped when he stopped, confused. "What's wrong?"

"We're here," he explained, then frowned. "Let me think…" He was quiet for a second, then continued walking. She was about to follow when he turned around and paced twice more. When he returned, the wall to her left reshaped and turned into a doorway.

Her eyes widened. "That's crazy."

"It has a name," he explained. "I read about it in _Hogwarts: A History, _but I don't remember what. Basically if you walk past it three times and think of whatever you want, that's what the room turns into. Shall we?" He held the door open for her, and she followed him in.

It seemed too perfect. It was larger than a classroom, and instead of desks there was a lot of open space, with statues every few feet in squares, each statue containing a target board on it. The targets were obviously for spells, and against the walls were shelves of spell books.

"This is incredible," Ellie breathed, looking around. "How'd you find out about it?"

"I heard Fred and George talking about some map of theirs, on Saturday," he replied, "and how there was a kind of vacant space around here. Me and Seamus were bored, so we started pacing that hallway, and the door appeared—simple as that, really."

"Seamus and I," she corrected cheerfully, looking around. "This could really come in handy if you were being chased or something," she said. "In, I don't know, a battle."

He looked at her curiously. "Do you think that'll happen eventually?"

"I think there's bound to be something, sometime," she replied, and realized how stupid it sounded. "But maybe not. I don't know. Shall we start?"

He nodded, gobbling down the last of his sesame tofu in a cute way, and pulled out his wand. "I was thinking we could do some defense, but mostly just Charms and things. What's your favorite?"

She shrugged. "Not sure, honestly. Defense was so odd last year, with Quirrel, and Charms kind of became my favorite—but more for the lack of anything better. And I love McGonagall."

He gave his own input, and they began. The whole time, Ellie felt relaxed—not as much as she was around the twins or Harry necessarily, but much more than she was around Oliver. She was having a great time, and she was glad.

xXxXx

When they were finished an hour or two later, they made their way to Hagrid's as planned. Ellie hadn't known Dean knew him at all, but apparently they had been something of friends the year before, because Hagrid knew Dean's mother.

"Hagrid!" Ellie greeted when he opened the door. She hugged him. "How are you?"

"I'm grea', an' it's good ter see yeh," he replied eagerly. "Yeh too, Dean."

Dean nodded easily. "Thanks," he said calmly. He followed Ellie with an attitude of calm when Hagrid backed up for them.

"So what's been happening, Hagrid?" Ellie asked cheerfully.

"Not much," said Hagrid, setting a kettle up for some tea. "Yehr friends haven't come ter see me yet," he said to Ellie. "Yeh know, 'Arry and Hermione."

Ellie felt guilty instantly. Hagrid had the lovable trait of seeming like he needed friends, and once he had them, he really appreciated them. "They've been really busy getting back in the flow of things," she explained. "Harry especially has been saying he wants to see you."

Hagrid smiled. "All righ', then. So what's on yer mind?"

"Nothing much, just thought we'd come and visit," said Ellie. "Oliver says Quidditch is starting up again soon. Have you heard anything about the new Slytherin Seeker?"

Hagrid shrugged. "They don' tell me much," he admitted. "Didn' know they needed one, actually."

"Oh, really?" asked Dean. "Yeah, their last one graduated."

"Too bad they still have the captain," she said, rolling her eyes—she hated Flint, the Slytherin captain. "So, Hagrid, shall I bring Harry, Ron, and Hermione back here tomorrow?"

"Yeah, that'd be great," Hagrid said, whole face smiling.

Ellie glanced at Dean, who was smiling as much as she was.

xXxXx

It was late when Harry and Ron got back from their dorms. Ellie was doing homework with Hermione and Ginny in the common room, trying to ignore the stares she was getting. She knew Dean was at a different table with Seamus, and she had sat with them for a while, but Hermione had interrupted. Fred and George were upstairs somewhere. Lavender, Parvati, and several others were eyeing her quizzically.

Finally the boys entered, Ron looking annoyed and Harry looking nervous. Hermione kept her nose in her books, but Ellie went over to them.

"What's wrong?" she asked Harry, whose bright green eyes were darting around madly.

"He's hearing voices," muttered Ron, who stomped upstairs in an annoyed manner. Ellie glanced at Harry, raising her eyebrows.

He sighed. "Do you even want to know?"

She nodded insistently. "You want to take a walk? We can jump a window or something."

He raised his eyebrows, and she remembered that mischievous acts like that were more things she did with the twins than with Harry. "There's a balcony, like, five feet below that window," she said, pointing to one against an empty wall. "_Levata _would just put us down more slowly." She'd never tried it, but she was sure it would work.

He shrugged and said, "Yeah, if you don't mind."

They crossed the common room over to the window, which they pried open. Just before they jumped, Ellie spotted Dean and Seamus looking over at them. Ellie noticed that Dean was looking jealous. She wasn't the kind of girl who would want that, and while it indicated that Hermione was right about a few things, it was also something she didn't like the feel of. Most of her friends were boys; it was her life.

"Okay," she said when they landed safely on the balcony below. She sat down, zipping her jacket up a little more. She hadn't been on this balcony before, only seen it from the ground, but it was comfortable. She was glad she had suggested it.

"Okay," he said. "So… I was in detention with Lockhart."

She laughed. "Which I'd love to know about."

He rolled his eyes. "Basically just writing letters to his fans and other wretched things. But when time was almost up, I heard these—these really strange voices."

She nodded. "So said Ron. What were they saying? What did they sound like?"

He ran a hand through his hair. "You're going to think I'm crazy," he said, stretching his legs out in front of him. "They were saying things like '_rip him,_' _'kill him_…'"

She bit her lip, not sure what to think but not doubting his honesty. She knew Harry and knew that he wouldn't make any of this up, or even twist the truth. "What kind of voice? Where was it coming form? Did Lockhart hear it?"

"He didn't hear anything," Harry explained. "It was really weak, soft, evil-sounding… I'm sorry, I can't explain it better. And it was coming from everywhere."

She scratched her head thoughtfully. "And then you heard it with Ron, and he didn't hear it, either?"

"Right."

"Well, you're not crazy," she said. "I'm ninety-eight percent certain of that. And it's not like weird things haven't happened to you in the past. Maybe it has to do with your scar."

He seemed to be relaxing. "That's possible."

"Or it could be some other language," she added. "I mean, c'mon, this is magic we're talking about. There's a world of possibilities. Maybe Hermione would know."

He sighed, leaning his head against a turret. "You're right," he said. "I shouldn't be so worried. Thanks."

"Of course. What are friends for?"

He laughed. "Ask Ron and Hermione—it'd puzzle them."

"Don't think like that," Ellie said, shaking her head. "You remember everything you went through with them last year. They're good friends, just only for certain things."

He smiled. "You know what that makes you, right?"

She raised her eyebrows and shrugged.

"Good for everything."

xXxXx

Ellie was up at the crack of dawn again the next morning, expecting a glow from Fred on her necklace, but it didn't come. She sent him a quick _get up _on hers and went down the stairs, only to find Ginny Weasley on the sofa, face white, looking confused.

"Ginny!" Ellie practically shouted, and ran over to her friend. "Ginny, are you all right?"

Ginny's eyes stayed unfocused, looking at a random spot away from Ellie. Ellie shook her, and she breathed in quickly before refocusing. She looked at Ellie with raised eyebrows. "El?"

"You were… you had a really weird expression," Ellie said. "Looked like you were having a vision, or something."

"Don't be ridiculous," Ginny muttered, sounding flustered.

Ellie shrugged. "It's not that ridiculous—it's magic."

"Well, I'm fine," said Ginny, and she gathered her things. "Sorry," she added as she turned to leave. "Just in a weird mood. See you at breakfast, eh? We need to work on the band, too."

Ellie nodded and waved, and smiled when she saw Fred heading down the boys' stairs just in time to see Ginny go up the girls'. "Been replaced by my own sister, have I?" he asked cheerfully, plopping on the sofa. Ellie relaxed into it as well.

"Ginny was acting strangely," she explained. "Don't know why she was here, either."

His expression got serious; his ears almost visibly twitched. "What d'you mean, what's wrong?"

Ellie loved how protective of her he was, but also didn't want it unnecessarily. She knew Ginny was older than her age. "It's nothing," she said, "sorry to worry you. Probably just couldn't sleep."

He nodded. "Okay. No, it's fine, I just haven't talked to her much since summer. So, sub?"

She started to eagerly accept, but they were both distracted by the clambering of rushing footsteps down the stairs on both sides. A few seconds later, all the members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team (including Harry and George) were surrounding them.

"Ellie, Fred," Oliver greeted when he saw them. "Wondered if you'd be down here. We tried telling everyone about the meeting yesterday, but couldn't find either of you."

She shrugged. "Sorry. What's up? Finally planning the new season?"

"Finally?" Angelina laughed. "It's only been a week."

"Too long for my taste," Fred said cheerfully, and Ellie nodded in agreement. She noticed with a hint of regret that George looked a little left out at seeing them together.

"All right, so we want to get about twenty minutes of practice in after breakfast, just to stretch our legs again. After that, we're going to be buckling down. New strategies this year—we _have _to win." Oliver looked more determined than she had ever seen him, which was saying something.

"You've reserved the field?" asked George.

Oliver nodded and began to go over their strategies, giving specific instructions to Harry and stating his own for himself; they were the only single players. Then he rattled off the new basics for Fred and George, the Beaters, and spent at least ten minutes on strategies for the Chasers, who had the widest variety of things to do. To her surprise, he was actually supporting a bit of violence this year. She didn't really mind, but had liked rising above the Slytherins the year before.

Finally they were ready. Everyone went back upstairs to change into their robes before heading back down and going to the Great Hall. They ate light and escaped early, but when they reached the Quidditch field, the Slytherins were already on it.

"That's not right," said Ron, who had come along with Hermione and Ginny as audience. "Oliver, didn't you say you reserved this?"

He nodded grimly and walked over to Marcus Flint, the Slytherin captain. "Flint," he greeted with gritted teeth. "What're you doing here? Gryffindor's booked the field."

"Nah, we've overridden it," said Flint, handing him a note. "Snape's orders."

Oliver glanced down at it and read it to himself before finishing out loud, "In order to train your new Seeker." He sighed and looked up at Flint. "You've got a new Seeker. Who?"

The team spread out, revealing none other than a very familiar blond boy.

Ellie snorted loudly.

"What?" asked Oliver. Malfoy glared at her.

"Nothing, it's just, your hardcore new strategy won't be needed this season after all," she told Oliver. "With Draco, on their team, the Snitch is ours."

Oliver looked as pleased as Draco did mad. Flint looked nervous.

"What, you have the guts to talk when you shouldn't even be on the team?" Draco asked after a moment of thinking up a comeback.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked rather uninterestedly.

"It means I didn't have to snog the captain to get on."

She flinched, but didn't really mind. "I should hope not, though you and Flint might make a decent couple," she said cheerfully, not turning to face Oliver.

"And at least no one at Gryffindor had to _buy _their way in," Hermione said to Malfoy, standing up and stepping in for Ellie.

"What do you know?" he asked, looking more sinister than usual. "You're just a filthy little Mudblood."

Hermione gasped audibly, along with many of the other Quidditch players around them. Ellie knew it was a rude term for Muggle-born, but didn't quite understand the big deal, while Ron looked positively furious.

"Eat slugs, Malfoy!" he shouted, and swished his wand at Draco.

Unfortunately, thanks to the Whomping Willow, the spell backfired.

"Bloody hell," Ron muttered, and threw up a slug.

xXxXx

"Fred, George, c'mon," said Ellie, cocking her head in the direction of Harry and Hermione, who were dragging Ron off toward Hagrid's hut. Fred looked like he wanted to murder Draco, and George looked amused.

"El," Fred whispered as they started to walk away. "Say something mean to Malfoy. We need the last word. You're good at that stuff."

Ellie turned and glanced at Draco, trying to find something to pick at. Finally she settled for his hair. "By the way, Draco," she shouted, "Mr. Clean called. He wants his hair back."

All the Muggle-borns on the team burst into laughter, and several of the purebloods did, too, whether they understood or not. Malfoy looked confused.

"I don't get it," George whispered.

"Muggle stuff," she said easily.

"You're a pureblood," Fred reminded her.

"Okay," she said, "Muggle TV stuff that ex-witches let their kids watch. Eh?"

He laughed and nodded. "Fair enough."

They met up with Ron, Harry, and Hermione in Hagrid's hut. Ron was continuing retching into a bucket, and Hermione was sobbing about the unfairness of what Malfoy had said. Harry looked concerned, but also didn't really seem to know.

"I don't understand," he finally said. "What does it even mean? 'Mudblood?'"

"It's a really foul term for someone who's Muggle-born," Hermione muttered angrily.

Hagrid looked angry.

"But why should you let that get to you?" asked Ellie timidly.

"Oh, you don't understand," Hermione said, shaking her head. "It's just a really foul thing to say, like calling you a…" She didn't seem to want to finish.

Ellie shrugged. "I don't see why you care so much. It's just an insult. And coming from _him, _it shouldn't mean anything."

Everyone glanced at Hermione, wondering what her response would be, assuming it would be angry or defensive. Instead it was rather tired and accepting. "You're right," she said. "Why let him have his way?"

Ellie smiled, and they all looked relieved. When Ellie's gaze raised to meet Fred's brown eyes, she saw appreciation, and she was glad.

"So, Halloween's coming up," Harry said as Ron's puking began to subside.

Ellie grinned. "Hopefully there won't be drama quite as interesting as the troll last year."

"That was pretty brilliant, though," managed Ron, who then seemed thrilled to have gotten out a full sentence without being interrupted by himself.

"I wouldn't hope for something quite so scary, though," Hermione warned.

"No," Ellie agreed, "but it's always good to hope for something."


	24. All Hallow's Eve, Part 1

Okay, here's the first part of a two-parter and the last one I'm posting tonight. Gotta leave you in suspense! (Hopefully not for months this time…)

**Chapter 6: All Hollow's Eve, Part 1**

"A Halloween concert!" Fred insisted. "C'mon, El, it's perfect! And don't you want to play on your birthday?"

Ellie bit her lip, trying to decide whether or not he was right. She was with Fred, George, and Ginny in the common room. Ginny, who was still acting a little off, was enthusiastic about the idea of a concert, though not quite as much as expected. Fred and George, meanwhile, were practically dying with hope.

"All right, ask Dumbledore," Ellie said, "not me. If he agrees, I say we play at the feast, and only, I don't know, four songs? Whatever we have prepared, which probably won't be much. And you weren't supposed to remember it was my birthday."

"El, get over it, we're not forgetting," Fred said with a bright smile. "Your birthday was awesome last year."

"Yeah, troll and all," she muttered, even though it had been pretty fun fighting the troll in her first year.

"Stop being a Negative Nancy," said George cheerfully. Ellie couldn't help but laugh.

"Okay," said Fred, who surprisingly was the only one taking initiative, "I say we all ask Dumbledore after dinner tonight. Fair?"

Everyone nodded—that was the easiest, and anyway, they had done it before. Dumbledore seemed to have a soft spot for their budding band.

"Hey, Ellie," shouted someone from behind them. Ellie turned to see Harry and Oliver.

"Yeah?" she asked, standing up.

"We're going to try to get some work done in smaller groups," Oliver explained. "The rain's not helping any, and if we can focus more on fewer players, it'll be the same as less on all of 'em, I reckon. This way you're less likely to get sick."

Ellie glanced at Harry, who shrugged. This was just the latest of Oliver's odd strategies. It didn't make sense to them, but Oliver said everything was worth a try.

"Okay," Ellie said, and laughed. "So the three of us, then?"

Oliver nodded. "First us, then Fred and Angelina, then George and Katie. Sound good?"

The twins nodded, and Ellie, Harry, and Oliver headed outside. Since the walk to the field was long, they spent several minutes in an awkward silence before Oliver spoke.

"So, I never really get to know these things, but you two are friends, right?" he asked, which didn't make their positions any more comfortable.

"Yeah," Ellie said, laughing, "me and Harry are friends."

"Ellie's friends with everyone," Harry explained. "Well, unless she's enemies with them, but that's pretty much just everyone in Slytherin."

Oliver laughed. "That's good—Slytherin's the competition. They are first against us in the Cup, you know."

Ellie laughed. "They always are, right?"

Oliver shrugged, not seeming to be paying much attention. Harry and Ellie glanced at each other, laughs written silently on their faces. Luckily they were approaching the field and wouldn't have to strain for conversation much longer.

They mounted uneasily. They kept their positions—the only position not covered by them was Beater, which was fine since Ellie and Harry needed to practice their dodging skills anyway.

Practice was, as expected, interesting—while things were the same as usual for Harry, competition between Ellie and Oliver was brewing. They were good friends, loved flirting, and could have made an interesting couple, but when it came to the game they were both merciless. Practice ran long and late because they were so evenly matched; it was hard for Ellie to get score goals with such a strong Keeper, but it was hard for Oliver to block goals from such a strong Chaser. Finally, after over three hours, Harry flew over them and begged them for a break.

"It's getting late," Oliver admitted, glancing at Ellie as if he was waiting for her surrender.

"I'm hungry," she said, bright silver eyes challenging him in a 'try and make me' way.

"Let's go," Harry said, laughing a little at them. "You guys, you're both excellent, neither of you are going to admit to being worse."

Ellie was the first to break into a smile; Oliver, too, looked amused. "Okay," he said, "well, good game, El. And you're doing great. I'll stay and make sure the Slytherins don't steal the field, if you'll go and fetch Fred and Angelina."

"Sure," said Ellie, who never minded fetching Fred. Harry nodded, too, and they headed back up to the castle.

"You and Oliver are such a strange… duo," Harry said to her after a moment.

"Duo?"

He shrugged. "I know you're not a couple, and I wasn't sure exactly what you _were_, so I figured duo would be safe. Am I wrong?"

She laughed. "I guess not. And don't ask me where I stand with him. I don't see anything happening this year, either. He's just so _old_." She laughed when she heard herself say it. Harry did, too. "You know what I mean," she said. "Maybe next year, when I'm safely a teenager. I mean, I'm turning thirteen soon—"

Harry grinned. "On Halloween, I remember."

She wrinkled her nose and continued, "—but I don't consider a second-year a teenager. Third-year sounds so much older, doesn't it?"

He laughed. "If you say so." They continued with small talk on the way up to the school, but on the way it began to pour rain. Harry broke into a run, and Ellie decided it was the perfect time to try out her Animagus form again—better get muddy as a dog than herself.

It worked almost effortlessly, and she found herself running faster than Harry in a much easier way. He glanced down at her, gave a short chuckle, and continued running. He held the door open for her when they got inside. She shook herself dry and started to change back, but stopped when Harry gestured for her not to. She glanced up and saw Nearly Headless Nick floating over to them.

"Nick," Harry greeted uncomfortably. "You don't look happy."

"No, no, that's because I'm not," Nick said, looking completely downcast. "When did you get a dog?" He didn't seem remotely interested.

"Er, birthday present," Harry lied. "So why aren't you happy?"

"Rejected for the Headless Hunt," Nick said, pouting. "Again."

Ellie glanced at him curiously, but he didn't look back; she supposed dogs didn't make for interesting conversation. Instead Harry spoke.

"Well, it's—I'm sorry, you're just not completely headless, are you?" he asked.

Nick looked exasperated. "That's not the point—it's not as if I have a choice in the matter!"

Ellie found this pretty amusing and was considering scaring him somehow when they were interrupted by the shouts of an angry Filch down the hall, yelling at students for tracking mud in.

"Better get going," said Nick, "don't want to get a detention, not when you're young and alive…"

Harry laughed a little and then headed down the hall, turning at the first opportunity. Ellie, though, chased after Nick, not wanting to risk being seen by Filch.

"Shoo, dog!" Nick said, but Ellie let her tongue hang out playfully before she transformed back into a human. His eyes widened. "A student, an Animagus? I haven't seen that since—well, for a long time."

She stared at him for a second. "Who?" she pried, wondering if it might have some connection to her long-lost father. "Who was an Animagus?"

"Four of those troublemakers," Nick said, shaking his head nostalgically. "Those were the days. Anyway, you'd better get going, you've still got mud on your shoes."

She nodded. "You're right. Hey, is there anything I can do to help you out with the Headless Hunt thing? Maybe if you tell me who those Animagi were?"

Nick frowned. "I suppose—there would be one thing—but I shouldn't tell—"

She made her eyes as pleading as possible, even though she doubted they were as cute as they were in dog form.

"Okay, okay," said Nick. "If you can come to my Deathday Party—on Halloween night, that is, instead of your feast—then I'll tell you about them. But you'll have to really boast about me to the Headless Hunt's captain. Can you do that?"

She nodded eagerly, not even caring that it was her birthday. "Of course, and I'm sure if I bring Harry it'll make you seem like you have connections," she added, "so I'll bring him as well. But I'll have to leave early—my band's playing a concert just after the feast."

He nodded. "The Weasleys. You did seem to have real talent last year, though you were a little rough around the edges—you have a great voice, but that twin…"

She laughed. "I like his voice," she said, and waved her fingers. "See you at your party!"

Halloween would be interesting.

xXxXx

The next week went by quickly. Harry, who had been caught for the mud after all, told her about the Squib book he had found in Filch's office, which made her laugh out loud; Fred and George teased her all week about her birthday. She still hadn't come up with a way to pitch the idea of the Deathday Party to Harry, though, and she knew she should get it over with soon.

The day before her birthday, she caught him whispering with Ron in the common room.

"What's up?" she asked cheerfully.

"Harry hasn't gotten you a present yet," Ron explained playfully, yelping when Harry hit him in the head. "I have, though, El—guess I'm the better friend."

Ellie laughed. "Guess so, but not if Harry gives me the present of a lifetime."

They both looked at her in surprise.

"Well, more of a deathtime," she corrected herself. "Nearly Headless Nick kind of bribed me into going to his Deathday Party tomorrow instead of the feast, and I told him it'd help his whole Headless Hunt thing if I brought along Harry, and he told me to go for it…. So, please?"

Harry glanced at her for a second, then sighed and laughed. "All right, I guess I have to, never been to one of those before."

Ron frowned. "Not that it sounds great, but since you two are going, mind if I tag along?"

"That'll mean Hermione will," said Harry, "and Fred and George will come if Ellie is, no doubt."

She laughed. "Then Nick will prove very popular," she said easily. "Oh, and I'm probably inviting Dean, too." She didn't particularly want to invite Dean—she liked the idea of attending her first ghost party with Fred, who would share more laughs with her—but he had suggested hanging out numerous times around her lately and she didn't want to disappoint him.

"Dean, eh?" asked Ron, grinning. "What's the juicy gossip, then?"

Harry laughed. "Did you seriously just ask that, Ron?"

Ellie laughed with him, then ran up the boys' staircase to invite Dean.

xXxXx

The night was long. Ellie didn't sleep much, especially not on her birthday nights. Hermione stayed up with her talking for a while, but she didn't hold out nearly as long as Ellie, who finally fell asleep around midnight. She woke up four hours later without any more desire to sleep, and instead crawled quietly out of bed, pulled a bathrobe over her boxers and tank top, and went down the stairs. She turned up the boys' staircase and headed up to Fred and George's room.

George, Lee, and their other two roommates were asleep, but Fred was sitting on his bed, looking out the window with a surprisingly serious and unreadable expression on his face. Without realizing it, Ellie stood staring at him in the doorway for several seconds.

After a short silence, Fred said, still looking out the window, "Do I have to keep up this stoic thing for long or are you going to greet me?"

She laughed. "Sorry, just wasn't used to it," she said. "Hey, Weasley."

"Hey, birthday girl," he replied with a wide smile, and she joined him on the bed for her birthday hug. As all her hugs with him were, it was long and close and warm, and she found herself not wanting to let go.

He did, though, and scooted away from her a bit. "How is it so far? You're up early."

She laughed. "You know me—not much of a sleeper."

His eyes smiled knowingly. "I was going to head down and beep you for subs in half an hour or so," he said, nodding to her locket (their walkie-talkie device), "but I didn't want to wake you. I'm glad I'm your first stop of the day, though."

"Of course you are," she said easily, "you're my best friend, Fred."

He kept his eyes on hers for a second, looking surprised in a way. She had never outright said it, and this time she said _he _was her best friend, not he and George.

"Well, you're mine too, which is why I already got you one," he said, and pulled a plate off his nightstand. He handed it to her, and she took it gratefully before digging in.

"So are we sure about the set list today?" Fred asked as she chewed. "Start and end with your originals, and in between—"

"_Drift, Broadway_, and then _What a Scene _again," she said, and nodded. "But I'm only doing one original, at the end."

"Okay. And you're sure we'll be done with this Deathday Party thing in time?" he asked. "It'd be pretty tacky to be late for our own concert."

She laughed. "Yes, Fred, I'm quite sure. So you're definitely coming, then?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, wouldn't expect you to want to miss the party, and George said he didn't want to go." She bit in again.

Fred shrugged. "Guess that's why I'm your best friend, eh?" he asked with a cocky grin.

She smiled, too, but felt a pang of guilt for not telling him that she was bringing Dean. It wasn't that she was bringing him as a date, but Fred was coming as her friend, while Dean was her plus-one.

"El, you're going to have a fabulous birthday," he promised, putting an arm around her. "I just wish I'd heard your lyrics by now."

She grinned sheepishly as she finished off her sub. She'd had Fred, George, and Ginny practice her two originals without her vocals in attempt to have them be a surprise for everyone. They weren't too deep or meaningful, but she was proud of them all the same.

"You know, I actually am getting tired," she said as she set her plate down.

He laughed. "Figured it would kick in. Feel free to sleep here if you don't have the energy—"

She didn't need him to offer twice, and she knew he'd only laugh if she tried taking the floor, so she lied back on the bed. Since his arm was around her, he too lied down, and even though she knew they were just friends—best friends—she couldn't help but like the feeling of being held in his arms on the morning of her thirteenth birthday.

xXxXx

Ellie slept a lot better than she usually did, not being stirred until she felt someone blowing on her face. She wrinkled her nose and opened her eyes to see the face of Fred—or rather, George, she realized when her eyes focused. She moved a fraction of an inch and felt with relief that Fred was still lying right beside her, her back to his chest, his arm protectively draped around her.

"Your boyfriend would be pretty pissed at this, El," George teased.

She rolled her eyes, still not moving. "Dean's not my boyfriend, and it doesn't matter." But it did. She sighed and forced herself to roll around and face Fred, his arm freeing from her. He was awake.

"Morning," he greeted with a soft smile.

"Morning," she replied quietly.

"And happy birthday!" George cheered. "Now, get up, I can't believe you two lovebirds didn't even think to wake me when you came up here, Ellie!"

She laughed. "Sorry," she said, and sat up, running an exhausted hand through her tangled brown hair. "Wow, so, long day ahead of us."

"It'll be eased with heaps of gifts and love," Fred reminded her, sitting up as well. "And a Deathday party. And a beastly concert, if I may say so myself."

"You may," she replied, "which reminds me, I meant to go see Ginny. Meet me in the common room?"

Fred and George nodded, and Lee wished her a happy birthday as she left. She looked around for Ginny, but she couldn't find her, so she headed down to the common room.

A few people in the common room shouted her birthday greetings, including most of the members of the Quidditch team, who had teamed up to buy her a beautiful animated snow globe of a witch on a broomstick. Oliver explained when she opened it that he knew it wasn't the most useful gift, but he saw it and it screamed Ellie. She hugged him gratefully and thanked the rest of the team—she honestly loved it.

Ellie and Fred took their seats on the couch; George, giving them an odd look, took one of the chairs beside it. They sat in content silence for a few minutes, Ellie propping her feet up on Fred's lap. Fred was the first to speak.

"What are we going to do all day?" he asked. "Nothing's planned until dinnertime."

"Take a walk?" she suggested lamely. "I don't know."

"Maybe when people wake up we can throw you a party," George suggested. "Between us and Dean I'm sure we can convince the house elves to get us food, and I'm sure we can find some way to play music. I mean, you know, somebody else's recorded music."

She shrugged. "It's an idea, if you think they'd go for it."

"Who, the house elves?"

She laughed. "Whoever."

"It's your birthday," Fred reminded her, touching her hand for a second. There was the normal joking twinkle in his eye, but his actions were less joking than usual. "We can do the impossible for you today."


	25. All Hallow's Eve, Part 2

Okay here's the next update! As usual sorry for taking so long. I just get so lazy and forget this story exists because I wrote it so long ago. But anyway here it is. The song at the end is a song by Alexz Johnson so I can't take credit. I used to be in love with the Canadian show Instant Star so I got some of the songs for this story from there… kinda weird, but whatever. Enjoy!

**Chapter 7: All Hollow's Eve, Part 2**

True to the twins' word, within the hour the Gryffindor common room had turned into party central. Most of the higher year students were dancing, and the younger students were in clumps talking. Ellie floated around, almost too happy to speak, until she was pulled aside by Dean.

"Hey, Ellie," he greeted, his expression cute and nervous. "Happy birthday."

She smiled, laughing inwardly at how he looked. Dean had always been one of the more attractive Gryffindors, but after spending so much time with Oliver, Ellie had high standards for how attractive guys were. Luckily she didn't actually care whether they were or not.

"Thanks, Dean," she said. "And thanks for agreeing to come to that Deathday Party, I know it's not exactly great sounding, but it could be fun."

"Oh, don't worry about it," he said easily. "It sounds fun, and anyway, I wouldn't miss the chance to hang out with you on your birthday." He reached under his robes and pulled out a small, tightly wrapped present. "I thought I'd get you something nice," he said a little awkwardly. "I… I hope you like it." And without further warning he left.

She stared at the present for a few seconds, contemplating it, without really opening it. She knew now more than ever that Dean liked her; she had never really denied it, but she had never dealt with it either. The question was, did she like him? She had assumed she did, but after the night with Fred and all her confusing emotions, she had a feeling it was just her mind's desire to be with someone available and simple. It really was one of the best aspects of Dean to her.

She stared at it a few more seconds, silently praying that Fred would come talk to her so she'd be distracted. But he didn't, so she sighed and opened it.

It wasn't original or clever. She somehow felt disappointed, as nice as it was. Like Oliver's Christmas present to her the year before, it wasn't magical at all; it was a necklace. It was beautiful—studded with some kind of fancy gemstone, not too long or short, probably went with anything—but she felt a pang of disappointment at seeing it. If anything were to happen with Dean, she would have to replace Fred's locket with this, and she wasn't sure she could.

Not sure how she felt, she went up to her dorm to put it away. She'd decide whether to wear it later. She started to head back downstairs, but stopped. She knew she had some things to think over before she could bring herself to face everyone.

It wasn't that she didn't like Dean, or that she didn't want a relationship. But Fred was in the back of her mind, as he had been lately. Sure, she could like two guys, but she knew she liked Fred more… and yet he was her best friend, which meant nothing could ever happen. She felt like she was too young for this kind of drama, only to remind herself how much older the people she spent most of her time with were.

She considered hiding out up here, but her locket glowed, distracting her from her thoughts. She opened the locket and saw Fred's face, happy and with friends around him in the background. The message read _Come back, El_! She smiled a little sadly, nodded, and closed it. She headed downstairs and caught Fred's eyes and smiled at him; he sent her a very sincere one back. She started to head over to him but was interrupted by Seamus, who pulled her aside.

"Hey," he greeted. "Happy birthday, Ellie!"

She smiled. "Thanks," she said easily. "Coming to our concert tonight?"

"Wouldn't miss it," he replied. "And you know who else wouldn't? Dean." He looked at her carefully, obviously waiting for her response.

She wasn't entirely surprised. "Yeah," she said, going along with it, "well, Dean and I are close."

Seamus nodded. "I've noticed. I think everyone has. But I think he'd like to be closer—if you get my drift." He sounded both nervous and amused.

"I'm not daft, Seamus," she said a little harshly. "Please don't treat me like I am."

He nodded. "Well, Dean really likes you, but I figured I'd check with you in case he gets hurt."

She considered her answer for a moment before speaking. "I have no plans of hurting him. And I admire your part in this, but not his. Just let me talk to him."

Seamus nodded. "Okay. You're right." He grinned. "Let me know how it goes, eh?"

"Definitely," she replied, and waved as he walked away. Then she looked around for Dean. She saw him on the other side of the room, talking to Parvati, dark face a little crimson.

She made her way over to him and smiled at Parvati. "Hey, Parv, can I steal Dean for a few?"

Parvati nodded, giving a little giggle, and shuffled off to find Lavender. Dean looked at Ellie, looking terribly nervous.

"Thanks so much for the necklace," she said. "I put it in my room for now. It's beautiful."

He smiled and said nothing, glancing awkwardly at the floor.

She sighed. "Dean, it's just me. I don't bite."

He nodded. "I know. But I saw you talking to Seamus—I know why you're here—and—it's freaking me out a little."

He was stuttering. She hated how awkward this was. After her experience with Oliver, she didn't find it uncomfortable at all—in a way she felt as amused as Seamus had seemed. Things with Dean just didn't seem real in a way. She wanted them to have more depth. She had to remind herself that she was only thirteen, and that he wasn't yet that.

"Don't let it freak you out," she said almost commandingly. He still looked nervous; she wasn't helping.

"Can we sit down?" he asked, jerking his hand in the direction of an empty table.

"Sure," she said brightly. She followed him to the table and sat down, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear and looking up at him. She noticed his eyes were just a shade darker than Fred's. She also noticed that while Fred always looked her in the eye, Dean was too nervous.

"Er," he said, "I guess Seamus gave me away?"

"Not really," she said, even though in a way he had. "I just said I'd rather talk to you."

He smiled slightly. "Sorry, I shouldn't have had him talk for me."

She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. You're here now." She wished they could get this over with, one way or the other.

He sighed and crossed his arms. "Okay. Um. Would you like to go out with me? Not go out with me, that is—not really anywhere for us to go—I mean, be my girlfriend, you know, date—"

There it was. Quick and painless. Or rather, very painful, but without the long prolonging she had been dreading. So here was her chance to say yes. She knew she would; she wanted a boyfriend, and who could possibly be safer than Dean, her trusty first-year pal? He was almost boringly stable.

She had a feeling Fred was watching her, but she couldn't bring herself to turn her head. She had to do this now. It was what she—or at least a part of her—wanted.

"Yeah," she said, giving Dean a bright, only half real, smile. "I'd like to."

His face lit with a confused expression that molded into happiness. "Really?" he asked, standing up. "That's great!"

She laughed. She felt like he was younger than her, somehow. Compared to the older friends she had he felt like a kid, still just an inch or two taller than her, and a voice that hadn't deepened yet. He was a great guy, but he didn't seem special.

But what could she do? He was her boyfriend now.

And so it began.

* * *

Seamus and Ron approached them seconds after they were finished, obviously having eavesdropped, and in minutes everyone in the common room had heard. Ellie hugged Dean and excused herself, exiting through the Fat Lady, not sure where she was headed. The Deathday Party was in about an hour, and she would have all the time in the world to hang out with her new boyfriend then.

She found her legs walking toward Hagrid's hut. She did miss him, but she didn't feel like talking to him; she felt like pondering herself for a while. She took a seat at a picnic table in a courtyard near his hut, lying down on top of it and pulling out a pen and paper. She didn't know exactly what to write, but she knew she'd spill out something.

She chewed her pen for a while. She already had plans for a song, one she had named _My Sweet Time _that was supposed to be about frivolity and freedom, but she had a feeling she could alter it. Using her legs as a desk, she began to write. Her favorite lines she scribbled down were _/but I feel the wheels rolling down below me _and _I'll take my sweet time getting back again_, then _/and I'll be home again._ She was so warped into what she was doing that she didn't realize she was singing aloud—at least, not until she felt a pair of hands cover her eyes. She shrieked for a second before asking, surprising herself, "Fred?"

Fred lowered his hands, looking just as surprised. "Am I that obvious?"

She laughed. "Guess so. How'd you know I was here?"

"Marauder's Map," he replied, "if that's not too stalker-ish of me. I tried glowing you or whatever we call it"—he pointed to her locket—"but you didn't answer."

"Sorry, I was kind of into the lyric-writing. I changed tonight's a little, for my original."

He nodded. "What I heard sounded good. It'll go with the guitar really well."

She grinned. "Well, you weren't supposed to hear any of it, but that is a relief. It's kind of a big deal for me, you know, new song and all. First song."

"About anyone I know?" he asked. After a second, he added carefully, "Dean?"

She frowned, thinking. It wasn't about Dean at first, but as she bent the lyrics into what they now were, she made it Dean and Fred-centric. Feeling the wheels rolling down below her was the feeling of letting herself do what life threw at her, but getting back again was what she knew was bound to happen eventually; 'home again,' she knew deep down, went back to Fred.

But she could never tell him it was about him.

Or Dean.

"Not really," she said. "Just about… freedom. Fun. Being a kid, I guess."

He smiled. "It sounds like a hit," he offered, and sat down next to her. "Really, El. I don't know if you're worried or not, but you don't need to be. Remember how great you were last time?"

She didn't say anything. She felt like crying for some reason.

"You'll be great, Ellie."

She couldn't bring herself to smile. A part of her was yearning for him to keep talking to her, and another part was begging him to stop.

"El, you don't have to—"

"Fred," she interrupted.

He glanced up at her, obviously surprised by her tone of voice.

She didn't know what to say. There were several ways she could go. She could ask him how he felt about Dean, see if he was as confused as she was… but that wasn't fair. She couldn't dare approach that topic; dating Dean, or whatever it was they were doing, meant no drama with other guys. Ellie wasn't that kind of girl. She just didn't know what kind of girl she was.

"Sorry," she mumbled. "I just wonder why you're so nice sometimes."

He shrugged. "That's what best friends are for, right? Friends listen to what you say, best friends listen to what you don't say."

She raised her eyebrows at that statement. "Wow, Fred, deep much?" But his eyes weren't even joking. "Okay, well, what am I not saying?"

"That you're nervous," he said, "and confused. Probably about your song. El, we can practice now, if you like—get a handle on how it'll sound? I don't mind hearing it beforehand if you don't."

She nodded. She didn't mind telling him; the secret was mostly for everyone else. If he knew what it meant she'd hide it from him, but he wouldn't.

"So I still have to tell you what your present is," he said, sitting up straighter. "It's more an idea this year than a tangible thing. I mean, I assumed all your friends would get you the same old boring things, and I'm out of installments to give on the locket. So I have my own. George is in on this one, too."

She shrugged. "Okay, what is it?"

He grinned and pulled something out of his jacket. It was a handwritten list, filling up a whole page in small letters. It had headings like _Spells, Potions, Chants,_ and even _Candles, _with bulleted lists below each heading. But she didn't really understand.

"We're going to become Animagi," he said, smiling widely at her. "For real. I know you said not to before, but trust me, it'll be great. It'll be under Ministry radar, so technically illegal, but totally worth it."

She stared at him in disbelief. "Fred! That's crazy!"

He smiled. "The more time spent with you, the better, my dear."

She squealed and hugged him, then pulled back and said, "The song—we were going to play my song. So, what, summon your guitar? It's pretty far."

"I'll hum," he said cheerfully. "I know the tune."

She laughed and nodded, and he began to hum. Just as the lyrics were about to come in, they were interrupted by Harry, Ron, Hermione, George, and Dean. She had invited Ginny too, to complete the band. Ginny had politely declined, saying she wanted to attend the feast, but the twins teased that she was too scared of the ghosts. Ellie thought it was a legitimate fear.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt," Hermione said cheerfully. "We should get going—everyone else has left for the feast already, and we're not really an inconspicuous group, so we should walk like we're going to the Great Hall." She seemed to have planned it out very thoroughly.

Ellie glanced at Dean, who smiled at her, but he seemed to be eyeing Fred a little oddly. She hoped jealousy wouldn't be an issue with them—there was no way she was putting Fred behind Dean.

It was easy for them to walk toward the Great Hall but still slip the right way, using the Marauder's Map for directions, to the Deathday Party. When they arrived, everyone pinched their noses; the food smelled disgusting.

"Someone tell Ginny to save us some food," George muttered as they entered. But he stopped and quieted when all the ghosts in the room turned to face them.

"Sorry, not late, are we?" Ellie asked a little shakily.

Nick floated over to them, beaming. "No, no, right on time! Everyone, please meet my friends from Gryffindor… Ellie Br—er, Ellie, Ron, Hermione, and those twins, and that boy… and here we are, Harry Potter!"

The ghosts murmured interestedly, as everyone had expected. Harry didn't look surprised at all.

"Well, dig in," Nick said fondly. "Have fun, and feel free to talk to any of my friends!" He sent Ellie a hinting wink, which made her feel very uncomfortable. She forced a smile.

Fred and George immediately went off to talk with the most grotesque-looking ghosts, and after a moment's hesitation Ron followed. Harry and Hermione both came to Ellie as if waiting for instructions, and Dean hovered by her side unsurely.

"What's the game plan, you're wondering?" Ellie asked, and laughed. "I guess we find the headless ones and tell them how great Nick is. You mostly, Harry, but we'll all be there, too."

Harry nodded and looked around. Dean was the first to spot them, on the other side of the room, heads in hands, heads speaking and bodies gesturing very strangely.

They made their ways over as confidently as possible, and Harry cleared his throat when he was in front of who he assumed the leader of the Headless Hunt was. "Greetings, sir," he said, trying not to laugh when Ellie kicked him in the shin.

"Ah, Harry Potter," said the head at the ghost's waist. The ghost raised the head a little to examine him. "I must admit, Sir Nicholas did mention he had invited you, but I had much doubt you would come."

"You must be good friends, to abandon your feast for him," said another.

Harry nodded. "The best. Sir Nicholas is the greatest ghost I have ever known. Greatest person, even—he's really something."

The chief ghost looked amused. "Did he tell you to talk to me? Because he isn't headless—he really can't join."

"He didn't tell me to, sir, but I really think you should reconsider," Harry said carefully. "Nick, er, Sir Nicholas—he was such a great wizard in his day. He's helped us out, and he's got great connections with students—"

"Enough," the chief said sharply. Harry didn't need to be asked twice.

"Sorry," he mumbled. "I'll just, er, see you around, then." He shuffled away. Ellie lingered, hoping to get more in, but he grabbed her arm, so she grabbed Dean's; Hermione didn't need to be pulled.

Everyone wanted to leave, but Ellie had promised Nick she'd stay. The twins weren't willing to leave if she wasn't, nor was Dean, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione didn't want to interrupt. So Ellie, for lack of anything better to do, stood at the front of the room and cleared her throat.

"I'd like to propose a toast to Sir Nicholas, the greatest ghost I know," she said. "Happy Deathday, Nick!" Everyone cheered, and she waited for them to finish before adding, "Oh, and if any of you remember, karaoke is like, the coolest thing ever. So I think we should try it out. My friend Fred will start us off."

Fred, laughing slightly, nodded and ran up to her side. She hugged him briefly before heading back over to Dean, who sat down with her as Fred began to sing _Ruby _by the Kaiser Chiefs, a song with little meaning but very fun to party to. Ellie had introduced him with it in her first year.

After Fred a few ghosts volunteered, by which time Nick had thanked Ellie extensively. She took the opportunity to receive her reward.

"So?" she asked eagerly. "You were going to tell me about those four students."

He nodded. "Yes, I was, wasn't I? Well, I don't know why you want to know. Can't even remember all of their names, mind you."

She shrugged. "I'll take what I can get."

"Well, there was one… one you'd thank me for telling you. James was an Animagus—a deer, perhaps, I can't remember—and by James I mean James Potter."

Ellie's eyes widened.

He nodded. "Yes, Mr. Potter's father and three of his friends. Don't know what's become of any of them." He had a curious expression on his face, but she could tell he wasn't going to reveal anything more.

"Thanks, Nick," she said, disappointed that she hadn't found anything out about her father but interested in this news about Harry's father. She didn't think she'd tell him—it would rile him up and make him too curious—but it was interesting to know.

She knew after that that it would be safe to leave, and once she suggested leaving, they were gone in minutes.

And finally time for the concert was there.

* * *

"It's been such a long day," Ellie said as she stood in their 'dressing room,' or a cleared out broom closet just outside the Great Hall. Ginny had met up with them, and the girls were dressing on one side of a curtain while the boys did on the other.

"Well, good thing your birthday lasted so long," George shouted back. "Don't complain."

She laughed. "You're right," she admitted as she pulled on a striped silver scoop-neck tunic that she had bought ages ago. She was still flat and too thin, but she filled it out better now. She added a pair of skinny jeans, her black-and-white Converse, and some beads, then helped Ginny into her outfit, a cute, attractive black dress that made her look like she could be in a band even though she was eleven.

"El, didn't you used to have a silver hair streak?" Ginny asked as they started on each other's hair, pulling the curtain away. Fred and George were both in semi-punk black and white ties and blazers, which was hilarious but also surprisingly attractive.

"Yeah," said Fred, "you did. It matched your eyes."

"No homo," George teased, rolling his eyes.

Ellie laughed, even though she didn't think it was all that funny. "Yeah," she said, glancing in the mirror, "guess it faded—it's been a long time."

"Well, let's do something," said Ginny. "We've got our wands, we've all taken some Transfiguration."

Ellie raised her eyebrows.

"Call it!" Fred yelped, and yanked out his wand. He pulled out a strand of Ellie's black hair that was almost exactly where it had been before, and pressed his wand to it. He stopped and thought for a second.

"_Crayatis lunus!_" he tried. Sure enough, the strand turned an almost glowing shade of silver that matched her shirt and her eyes.

"Nice," she said, nodding. "Thanks. Learn that from McGonagall?"

He shrugged and shook his head. "Made it up. Cray like Crayola, lunus like the moon. Plus I've got a good wand, so, you know." He shrugged.

The three of them stared at him in disbelief.

"You—that's—_Fred_!" Ginny said. "I thought you were a bad student!"

He shrugged. "Proved you wrong, sis."

No one said anything until they were called onto stage. They all breathed deeply. Ginny grabbed her bass, Fred and Ellie their guitars, and George his drumsticks.

* * *

Fred was singing all three of their covers, starting with _Drift, _a song Ellie had heard on television once that she fell in love with. Fred sang with more expression than she expected, lyrics like _I remember when we fell, it took my whole life, my breath, away. So take a ride now, you take a fall. _He gave them the raw emotion she had hoped for, and they had a quality she hadn't expected for such little practice. The crowd loved _Drift, _and rocked out along with them.

_Broadway, _a much quieter, smoother song, had less meaning but more of a feeling. The Goo Goo Dolls' rich lyrics, _Broadway is dark tonight, _then _See the young man sitting in the old man's bar, waiting for his turn to die. _They didn't make sense, yet they filled the heart with loneliness; students lit their wands with _Lumos _and waved them like lighters.

Finally came _What a Scene _again. Most of the people, with the exception of the first-years, recognized it from last year. This, also by the Goo Goo Dolls, had always been Fred's favorite. From lines like _All taste sweet, but not for long _to _Live a big lie and they all believe, _they sang of individuality and being alone.

Finally it was time for her song. Everyone was cheering, and Fred was giving her an encouraging look. Dean, from the floor, was smiling up at her, and she knew she could do it.

She laid her guitar on the ground—she didn't play when she sang—and cleared her throat, taking the microphone. "I wrote this song. It's called _My Sweet Time._"

Fred's intro was smooth and perfect, hitting the complicated sharp notes with accurate edge.

And then it was time.

* * *

"_All the time there's a song spinning in my head  
And at night I can't sleep at all." _She glanced down at the ground before looking up again.

"_I'm thinking about my life, but not a tear is shed_

_I'd vent to friends, but it's too late to call  
But daytime comes, and I do have my friends_

_And it feels the best when my band kicks in…" _Fred vamped up for the chorus, and she sang with power._  
_  
"_I don't know where the next road goes but I feel the wheels rolling down below me  
I'll take my sweet time getting back again  
What matters most will carry me through the night to where I want to be  
I'll take my sweet time, but I'll be home again." _She breathed deeply as the next solo came, not daring to look._  
_  
"_I make some wrongs, make some rights, but it feels so good  
How it works is a mystery  
Do I believe in my heart I'm doing what I should?  
I'm not sure, but it's such a breeze  
And then we get around to the 'let's begin'  
I love how it feels when the band kicks in  
_  
_I don't know where the next road goes but I feel the wheels rolling down below me  
I'll take my sweet time getting back again  
What matters most will carry me through the night to where I want to be  
I'll take my sweet time, but I'll be home again." _Another solo, and the song was coming to a close._  
_  
"_Maybe when this is over I'll understand  
What I've got right here in my hands  
_  
_I don't know where the next road goes but I feel the wheels rolling down below me  
I'll take my sweet time, but I'm getting it back again  
What matters most will carry me through this night to where I want to be  
I'll take my sweet time, but I'll be home again in my own sweet time."_

_

* * *

_

She finally dared to look up, and saw that everyone was cheering like they had never before. One of the professors was crying; others had actually gotten up to groove along with it.

She had touched them.

* * *

(end)

Well there you have it! Kinda depressing that she's with Dean now but [SPOILER ALERT) it won't last long, we all know that's not where the storyline is headed! Anyway I'll try to update again really soon. I owe it to my faithful readers! Sorry for being so slow and thanks for reading and (hopefully) reviewing!


	26. Fearing Fear

So I promised I'd update soon, and I didn't... but I am not getting enough incentive, you guys! please review! I will update sooner the more reviews I get...

But, regardless, I'll keep posting. Enjoy :)

**Chapter 8: Fearing Fear**

It happened the next day. It was a Sunday, and everyone was recuperating from Ellie's long birthday the day before. Ellie spent most of her day in the common room with Dean until she got bored out of her mind and glowed Fred to meet her at the bench outside Hagrid's.

She still wore the locket. She'd have to wear Dean's necklace eventually, but she didn't want to now.

Fred got to the picnic table only a bit after her, but he didn't look as happy as he usually did; in fact, unless she was mistaken, he looked grumpy.

"Hey," she said, trying not to notice his manner. "Sorry, were you busy?"

"No," he said, shaking his head, "but you were. Or I thought. Haven't you been with Dean since you woke up?"

She shrugged. "Yeah, I guess I have," she admitted, not really seeing his point. "But now I'm hanging out with you. What's the problem?"

"You're only hanging out with me because you're bored with him—it's obvious. Not cool, El."

She had gone from a little surprised to outright confused. Where was this coming from? She had never gotten into a fight with Fred before, or had him upset with her at all—at least not at all like this. "Fred, he's my boyfriend and you're my best friend! Am I not allowed to have both, to hang out with both of you?"

She expected to see some kind of anger in his eyes, but she only saw hurt. She didn't understand; she wasn't trying to hurt him at all. "You can hang out with both of us," he said, "have both of us. But you can't use me as a last resort—all day I was wondering why you weren't even talking to me, and now I find out you got bored and glowed me."

She stared at him for a second, trying to figure out what was going on. She'd been going out with Dean for one day, and Fred was taking it this personally? "I'm sorry," she finally said. "This is all new to me. I don't know how to balance it right. I didn't mean to do that to you—you're important to me, Fred."

He shook his head. "Not important enough," he muttered.

"Fred, it's not—"

"I've got to go," he said quietly, and walked away.

She didn't know what to do for several minutes. She was surprised more than she could have imagined. Where did this _come _from? She hadn't expected it at all. Had going out with Dean meant cutting the cord on her fragile, special relationship with Fred? That wasn't what she had intended. And now, was it over? This fast?

Finally she rose and headed back inside. She didn't want to go back to the common room, so she wandered the halls in a kind of daze. After covering three floors, she spotted Harry, Ron, and Hermione talking in hushed voices. Glad to see something to distract her, Ellie ran over to them.

"Ellie," said Hermione in surprise. "Why aren't you with Dean?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, not bothering to answer. "What's with you?"

"I'm hearing things again," Harry said grumpily. "And we're following it this time… this way."

Ellie didn't have any questions of his sanity like Hermione and Ron did; she believed him. She had already had this conversation, and if she supported him then, she supported him now.

They didn't have to walk far this time; crossing the hallway they spotted water all over the floor. Hermione glanced around and said exhaustedly, "I think it's coming from Myrtle's bathroom."

They followed the floor of water to a wall, where they stopped dead.

Ellie was the first to read what she saw out loud. "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened," she read, her voice—which was so used to holding—shaking. "Enemies of the heir, beware."

"It's written in—blood," Hermione stammered.

"Look," said Ron, taking a step back. Hanging from an unused light post near them was the limp body of Mrs. Norris, Filch's beloved cat.

"Guys, maybe we should get out of here," Ellie said. "Report it to Dumbledore?"

They heard a voice down the hallway and looked at each other fearfully. If they ran, it would appear they had done it; if they stayed, it would still be possible. Ellie, doing the only thing she could think to do on short notice, transformed and ran in the direction of the voice. It was Filch; she would've laughed if she had the ability.

She barked when she approached him, then grabbed a trophy from one of the displays decorating the hallway and ran in the opposite direction with it. As hoped, he chased her. When she had gotten a safe distance, she dropped it and kept running until she was sure he had gotten completely lost. Then she searched for the other three, finding them standing on a moving staircase with white faces.

She didn't want to transform back in front of the portraits, so she waited patiently with them until they reached a safe, empty hallway. She transformed back and sighed, exhausted.

"What does this mean?" she demanded. "What's the Chamber of Secrets? And the Heir—"

"The Heir of Slytherin," Hermione said, nodding. "I've heard of it. No one knows who it is, but—it's such a story, I really don't know much about it."

"So, who would?" Ellie asked, throat tight. "They're going to find it soon, and we've got to figure out what it means."

Ron shrugged. "I'm guessing someone will know."

With that less than comforting news, they headed back to their dorms.

* * *

Dean was in the common room when Ellie returned, but she managed to slip upstairs to the girls' dorm without him noticing her. Fred was nowhere to be seen. She considered glowing him but didn't have the heart to do it; she was still hurt and confused by their earlier encounter.

She felt stronger emotion than she would have expected that night. Parvati and Lavender went to bed early, and Ellie stayed up, staring out the window like she did every so often. She wanted to go downstairs and have midnight subs with Fred, but she knew it wouldn't happen. Surprisingly something else did: Hermione joined her.

"I usually sleep like a baby," Hermione explained, "but I keep getting that visual in my head… the writing on the wall. The… blood."

Ellie nodded in agreement, her face white. "And the words they read," she said. "When we find out who the Heir is, or at least what it means, we'll have to know who the enemies are… and see if we can help them."

"I know what it means," Hermione said quietly.

Ellie's eyes widened and she looked at her friend in surprise.

"Enemies of the Heir—it means enemies of Slytherin, at least," she said. "It means Mudbloods."

Ellie sighed. It made perfect sense. And it was heartbreaking to hear Hermione say it. "Hermione, nothing's going to happen," she said. "You'll be fine."

"Like Mrs. Norris is fine?" Hermione asked doubtfully. "And I doubt whoever it was will go for a cat again."

They sat in frightened silence for a while, both thinking the worst, when they heard the creaking of footsteps in the main girls' hallway that connected second-years' with the rest.

"Who's there?" Ellie shouted out of instinct, yelping when Hermione pinched her.

"Er—sorry," said the voice from the hallway. It sounded frightened. Ellie grabbed Hermione's wand from the nightstand and shouted, "_Lumos_!" Parvati and Lavender both whined about the light, then shrieked when they realized Ellie was worried about danger.

"It's nothing," said the voice, "go back to bed." But Ellie, eyebrows narrowed mostly in confusion, walked into the hallway to see Ginny.

"Ginny," she said, exhaling with relief. "You scared me. What are you doing up?"

Ginny's wide brown eyes looked hazy and unfocused. Her face was frightened, body almost limp in a way. "Nothing," she said, her voice jumbled. "Couldn't sleep."

Ellie turned to look at Hermione, who looked unconvinced.

"You sure that's all?" Ellie asked Ginny, who nodded. "Okay," Ellie said, "I'll get you back to bed, then. Try and say it's you next time, though—Hermione and I are kind of on edge."

"Right, sorry," Ginny mumbled, and let Ellie pull her back to her own dorm by the arm. Her roommates hadn't even noticed her getting up. Ellie helped her into bed and, with one last, confused look at her young friend, left.

* * *

Ellie got up early the next morning. She felt just as confused as she had been the night before. She stumbled into the bathroom and took a second to stare at her reflection in the mirror.

She was still such a child in so many ways. She knew why people treated her like she was older: she acted that way. The streak in her hair, which was now more prominent, made her seem it, and her older friends did, too. But she was still short, thin, not shaped, with a little baby fat on her face. Her hair, which had always been her favorite part about herself, was the only thing besides her eyes that could pass her over for a teenager. It was still short, with a boring, straight cut, but it was as thin, straight, and dark as ever.

And she knew her eyes were still her best feature. They still glowed silver the way they always had, the way her mother's had before her mother lost her spirit.

Was Ellie losing hers?

It was day three of dating Dean, and she already felt like a part of her was missing. It wasn't him as much as what it was doing to her and Fred. It had been a day since he stopped speaking to her, and she felt lost.

Frustrated, she pulled her hair into a messy high ponytail and changed into her robes. It was a Monday; school was back in swing. At least October was over.

No one was in the common room when she came downstairs, but she didn't mind. She worked on a little studying for History of Magic, which she had first period, and tried not to think about anything in particular. But that was disrupted when, twenty minutes later, Dean came downstairs. Worse, he was followed by Oliver and his friend.

"Hey," Dean greeted. "I didn't see you yesterday after you left."

She nodded. "Sorry, I got back late, and you weren't in the common room," she lied. "Have a good day?"

"Yeah." He smiled and started to join her on the couch, but she stood up, turning to face Oliver.

"Hey," she greeted him. "Quidditch today?"

He didn't seem to hear her; he was looking from her to Dean as if noticing something. "Yeah," he said after a second, nodding. "Quidditch. Who is this, again?"

"I'm Dean," Dean said easily. "Dean Thomas."

Oliver nodded, still looking confused, and laughed. "Sorry, forgot Ellie had friends her own age."

"I'd say a step above friends," Dean said, glancing at Ellie. Then, about as awkwardly as possible, he put his arm around her. She considered shrugging out of it, but decided against it.

Oliver laughed, this time condescendingly. "What, like you're her boyfriend?"

This time Ellie did shrug out of it, smiling innocently at Dean before turning to Oliver. "Yeah," she said, "he is. I'm sorry, I wanted to tell you sooner—"

He looked a lot madder than she had expected. "You'll date this loser, but not me?" he demanded. The friend he was with just gave an amused whistle and sat down; Dean didn't seem to be capable of words.

"Oliver," Ellie said, and tried not to get upset. "It's not like that. Okay, he's my age, and he's not my captain on the team, and—"

"Save it," Oliver said, throwing her a hurtful glare. "See you at Quidditch." With a very menacing look at Dean, he turned and headed upstairs.

Ellie groaned and fell back onto the sofa.

"What was _that _about?" Dean asked, sitting down next to her. "Oliver likes you?"

"He did last year," she said, "and I told him I wasn't ready to have a boyfriend—at least, not him."

"Because he's old?"

She nodded.

"Well, good choice," Dean said, crossing his arms. "I agree. He's much too old for you. Most of the kids you hang out with are."

She didn't bother replying. When she heard footsteps from the boys' dorms again, she turned, hoping it would be Oliver coming back to apologize. Instead it was Fred.

The second he saw her and Dean, he rolled his eyes and went back upstairs.

Ellie felt like crying.

"Wow," Dean managed.

"Yeah," Ellie agreed. "Wow."

* * *

"As some of you may have seen, something very serious has happened here at Hogwarts," Dumbledore said at breakfast. "Certain words were written on the walls of one of our halls, and our caretaker's cat was harmed. We are happy to announce, however, that she was only Petrified, and will be restored when Professor Sprout's Mandrakes are fully developed. Until then, we ask everyone to please go on like normal."

"Well, she's not dead," Ellie said when he was finished speaking. She said it mostly to Hermione, who still seemed scared about the _Enemies of the Heir, beware. _"See? Nothing to worry about."

"Unless they meant for her to die," Hermione said, "and didn't do it right."

Ellie bit her lip.

"How did you even know about this?" Dean asked them. He had started having breakfast with Ellie instead of Seamus, who seemed disappointed.

"We saw it yesterday," Ron said easily. Harry shot him a warning look, which instantly made Ron look guilty; obviously he hadn't even considered keeping it a secret.

"We didn't say anything because we wanted to avoid looking like we did it," Ellie explained, "but they found it soon, anyway."

"Do you think it's anything to worry about?" Dean asked.

Ellie shook her head, but Hermione and Harry didn't look convinced. Ron, not daring to say anything more, chewed his pancakes wordlessly.

Ellie always walked with Hermione, Ron, and Harry to class, and Dean with Seamus, so their group took up most of the hallway space. When they reached Binns' classroom, they branched out. Ellie gave a sort of helpless wave to the three before taking her seat next to Dean and Seamus.

They passed notes like they always did, but it felt different now. She couldn't think of anything to say, and she felt cautious of moving, turning her head, looking at him. She had heard that first boyfriends were awkward, but she hadn't dreamed they would be this awkward.

It wasn't until Hermione spoke up in class that things got interesting.

"Excuse me, sir," Hermione said. "Do you think you can tell us about the Chamber of Secrets?"

Their ghost professor looked surprised. "The Chamber… now, really, I don't think I should go there," he said. "Besides, just because we were talking about history—"

"I think we have a right to know," Ellie said loudly. "Please, Professor?"

He glanced from Ellie to Hermione and sighed. "Very well. I'll tell you. It started many generations ago with the founders of Hogwarts: Godric Gryffindor, Helga Hufflepuff, Rowena Ravenclaw, and Salazar Slytherin. As you know, they created the Houses which we still have today."

Everyone nodded; as they were supposed to read _Hogwarts: A History, _they knew this.

"What you probably don't know is that soon into their creation of Hogwarts and after teaching began, Salazar Slytherin expressed a very strong desire to stop teaching Muggle-born students completely. Though many Slytherins agreed with him, none of the other House leaders did, and they were naturally quite offended."

A few of the Slytherins in the class snickered.

"This was what prompted Salazar to leave Hogwarts forever. But legend has it that before he left, he built a hidden Chamber of Secrets, which contained a monster that would wipe out all non-pureblood students at Hogwarts. He said that only his heir would be able to control it. And that is where we are left."

Everyone burst into a fit of mutterings and questions, most of which Binns ignored, until he became visibly angered. "This is all folklore," he shouted, "and you have no reason to believe otherwise. Now, back to Ancient Charms."

But no one was thinking about charms.

* * *

Ellie couldn't get away from Dean.

It was a horrible week, definitely her worst at Hogwarts and possibly her worst ever. Dean was literally everywhere she went, in every one of her classes, at every one of her meals, and soaking up every spare minute she had. Her only break from him was Quidditch, where Oliver took every opportunity he could to correct, scrutinize, and insult Ellie. But she preferred his meanness to Fred's complete, obvious ignoring of her. George still spoke to her, but whenever Fred was near, he scurried off to Fred's side instead.

Finally Saturday came, and Ellie got up early for Quidditch practice so she could both talk to Oliver and avoid Dean. She met Harry in the common room, seeing that he too was hoping to get there early.

"Hey," she greeted. "Heading out to the field?"

He nodded. "You?"

"Yeah." She sighed. "Figured I'd get an early word with Oliver. Please say I wasn't actually as bad as he made me look all week."

Harry laughed. "Trust me, you weren't. The whole team thought he was way out of line. If he wasn't a dictator I would have said something."

She shook head. "I got myself into this, and I'll deal with it." She pulled on her coat and began walking with him.

"So, I've been thinking a lot," Harry said. "About what Binns was saying."

She nodded. "About the Chamber."

"Specifically about the Heir. I don't know if I ever told you this, but last year, before I was put in Gryffindor, the hat wanted to put me in Slytherin. I had to practically beg it to put me in Gryffindor."

Ellie raised her eyebrows; a similar thing had happened to her. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yeah. Wow, you're the first person I've told. Anyway, I feel like I had this kind of mistake happen, and… I don't know. What if I'm somehow connected to Salazar Slytherin?"

"Because you were supposed to be put in Slytherin?" she asked doubtfully. "Harry, stop worrying, that hardly even makes sense. I was almost put into Slytherin, too, you know."

He looked at her almost hopefully.

"It was family stuff," she admitted. "My dad was in Gryffindor, but the rest of my family wasn't."

"Your dad?" Harry asked in surprise. "But I thought he—"

"Worked for Voldemort?" she finished. "He did—at least, that's the popular theory. Guess houses aren't that important after all, eh?"

He looked glad. "You're right," he said. "Maybe I should let it go."

"Glad I could help," she said cheerfully. "So with you safely out of the question, do you have any idea who the Heir could be?"

"Yeah," he said, "a pretty serious one. A guy who hates Muggle-borns, loves Dark magic, and whose dad might have worked for Voldemort."

"Draco," Ellie assumed.

Harry nodded.

"Well, you have a point, but that's a pretty serious accusation," Ellie said. "Do you really think it's worth looking into? I mean, he's just a kid, like us."

"He could have a lot of power," Harry said. "Who knows what his dad has taught him?"

They were reaching the field now, so Ellie had to decide what to tell him she thought. What _did_ she think? Somehow she doubted Draco could possibly be this Heir, but on the other hand it did seem partially believable. "I think we should at least talk to Ron and Hermione and the twins about it." She frowned. "Or at least Ron and Hermione."

"Still no luck with Fred?" Harry asked.

"What?" she asked, surprised he knew. "You know about that?"

Harry laughed. "Everyone knows. You two were attached at the hip until now."

She sighed. "I miss it," she admitted, and they stopped in front of Oliver, who was looking just as sullen as ever. When they quieted, he put on his about-to-say-something-horrible face.

"Are you here to practice, El, or are there more guys you plan on leading on?"

Ellie ran a hand through her dark hair tiredly. "Hey," Harry said defensively of her, but she shook her head. "Can you give us a minute, Harry?" she asked. He nodded and left.

Oliver crossed his arms and looked at her, eyes dark.

"Oliver," she said. "Look, I don't want things to be like this. _Please._"

"Maybe you should have thought of that," he shot back. "Do you think about things, Ellie? Other people's feelings? Lies you tell? You should've just come clean with me last year. Told me you didn't like me."

"I did!" she insisted. "I do!" Maybe that was taking it too far, but she had to make her point. "You scare me, Oliver—you intimidate me. And when you kissed me, I just… I knew I wasn't ready." She was glad to notice Harry was in the air practicing and not spying on them at all.

"But you're ready for him? Really, what's the difference?"

"Have you _seen _Dean?" she demanded. "He's not like you! He doesn't have experience, he's not blazingly attractive or flirtatious or—" She was going too far. This wasn't what she was trying to say.

This was proven when he grabbed her and kissed her.

And, again, she let him. She felt his lips press against hers, his tongue flit into her mouth, and his arms wrap around her—and then she pulled away from him. "No!" she managed, wiping her mouth with her sleeve. "No, Oliver! This is why I can't be with you—you're—_you_!"

He shook his head, looking frustrated. "Both times I kissed you, you kissed me back. Actions speak louder than words, Ellie."

"Well, my mind speaks louder than both, and it's telling me I'm not ready for the kind of…" She was struggling. "The kind of _heat _we have. Dean and I don't even kiss, and it's good that way—it's safe that way." And so, so boring. She knew why she had kissed Oliver back: the intensity, the passion, the excitement. She didn't get much out of the kiss, honestly—it didn't have the kind of magic or sparks she could've hoped for. And yet doing it, something that wasn't planned and that was dangerous, had felt so much better than things with Dean.

"You and Dean don't even kiss?" He sounded amused now. "That's odd."

She couldn't help but laugh. "I told you, I need things to be like that. He's my first boyfriend, Oliver. I'm supposed to get into the swing of things first. Even if it's totally awkward and boring."

A grin slipped onto Oliver's face. "You're totally not going to stay with him for long."

"Maybe," she admitted. "Or maybe not. Look, even if we break up, that doesn't mean something will happen with you. You're old and intimidating, and you've heard it all by now, so please understand where I'm coming from."

"Okay, okay," he said. "I get it. But look me in the eyes and tell me you don't ever want something to happen between us."

She looked him in the eyes and considered trying, but couldn't.

He smiled. "That's what I thought."

"Okay, I get it," she said, mocking what he had said. "But, seriously. Don't be mad about him. Don't be mad about guys, okay? If I'm ready, I'll tell you. Maybe next year."

He laughed. "That's my last year, better be next year."

She gave him a look.

"Okay! Okay. I won't be mad at you any more. Or constantly be mean to you at practice."

She smiled. Maybe things were going to be okay after all. Even though she had just kissed Oliver while going out with Dean.

What he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

* * *

Well once again we have developments in the wrong direction… then again, I wrote this story for all seven books so I had to take my time with it… but no worries everyone! You can trust me.

Review review review!


	27. Serpents and Lions

Okay guys, I really am sorry this one took so long. But to my credit, I was ALL READY to upload like just a few days after the last chapter, and I got NO REVIEWS! So I had no incentive. So if you want to give me an incentive to update really soon, like in a few days, all you have to do is REVIEW!

Anyway, enjoy : )

**Chapter 9: Serpents and Lions**

Later that night, Ellie sat in the common room with Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Luckily Dean slept normal hours and had gone upstairs for the night. It wasn't that none of them trusted him, just that they didn't want to add any more people into their circle of mystery-solving at Hogwarts. Just because the twins didn't help them any more didn't mean the twins needed replacing.

"It's called a Polyjuice Potion," Hermione was saying. "If the drinker has some, they can turn into whoever it is they want to turn into, as long as they have, say, a piece of that person's hair."

Ellie understood why Hermione was telling them this, but they boys didn't. "What does this have to do with Malfoy being the Heir of Slytherin?" he asked.

"_Because, _if we want to get answers, we'll have to get him to tell us," Hermione said, sounding exasperated. "If he thinks we're his friends, we'll be sure he tells us the truth, and then we'll know."

"What will you need to make the potion?" Ellie asked. "I think Fred and George could help—they're working on one of their own right now."

"No, actually, I've got this one," Hermione said. "A little complimenting gets me a long way when it comes to Lockhart, if you know what I mean."

The four of them looked at each other with amused grins on their faces before heading up to bed.

* * *

"It's officially been two weeks," Ellie said the next morning to Hermione.

Hermione smiled easily. "Since you and Dean started?"

Ellie groaned. "No, since Fred stopped talking to me. But not having your answer makes me a horrible person, doesn't it?"

"No," Hermione said, "it doesn't. But I'll tell you who _is _a horrible person—Oliver Wood." She nodded across the common room at Oliver, who was staring at Ellie with the same sloppy, smug expression he'd been using all week.

"He's not horrible," Ellie said, "just not smart." She made her way over to him and stopped, giving him a tired, funny look before saying, "Put on a new face."

He laughed. "This is the only one I know."

"It is not. You do mad pretty well, too."

"You only say that because you think I'm cute."

She sighed, still smiling. "Oliver, c'mon, there's no point in dwelling on me when I'm with Dean. Why don't you find another sixth-year? There's lots of great sixth-year girls."

"I like you better," he explained, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear.

She hated how much she enjoyed it.

"Ellie," said a voice from behind her. She spun around, praying that it was anyone but Fred. Luckily it wasn't Fred, but almost as badly, it was Dean.

"Hey," she said to him. "Sorry. Just talking to Ol about the big Gryffindor-Slytherin game tomorrow. It's going to be quite a show."

Oliver nodded. "It'll be crazy," he said. "Such a dangerous game. Don't worry, El, I'll be out there to catch you if you fall." He sent her another melting grin before leaving.

"Ellie?" Dean asked. "Is there anything you want to tell me about you two?"

She felt like laughing. He had a right to act like a jealous boyfriend, but she found it oddly amusing. Dean and she were about the least couplish couple she had ever heard of, and yet here he was being threatened by Oliver.

"No," she said, not putting much effort into it, "nothing. I should probably go to practice—Oliver has us going out there before breakfast now."

He nodded. "Okay, then see you first period?"

She nodded, shrugged, and escaped.

* * *

The rest of the day was spent the same way all days before game days were spent: with tons of practice and fingernails bitten to stubs. Oliver was as flirty and nice as ever to Ellie, but he was also obviously freaking out, especially to Harry. She was pretty sure she had overheard Oliver say "catch the Snitch or die trying" to Harry at one point.

Finally the day of the game was there. Ellie had ordered a Nimbus 2001, after much begging on Oliver's part, for herself, and was very relieved when it showed up in the mail—this would at least even her advantage with the Slytherin Chasers. She had also given her old Cleansweep to Katie, who had been stuck on a lower-brand, less advanced model.

Ellie hadn't expected to go out to the field with the twins, but she ended up finding herself next to George in the hallway.

"Hey, guys," she greeted slightly hopefully.

"Hey, Ellie," George replied unenthusiastically. Fred said nothing.

"How's it going?" she asked, not giving up yet.

"Not bad," George replied. This conversation was more awkward than most of her conversations with Dean, which was saying something.

"Look," she said. "We're about to play a really big game. You guys are our Beaters. And more importantly, you're supposed to be my best friends."

Fred still stayed quiet, but George obviously was tiring of this treatment to her. "Don't worry about us as Beaters," he said. "We both agreed we have your back in the game."

She couldn't help but smile—at least they had discussed it. "And in the real world?"

"I can't speak for Fred," George said, "but I miss you."

Fred just kept walking.

"I miss you, too," she said. "Both of you. I would never pick anyone over either of you." She paused, feeling like crying. But Ellie couldn't remember the last time she had cried, and she knew it wouldn't be now. "Fred. Please talk to me."

He lifted his dark eyes to look into hers, and she could hardly read his expression.

"I'll always have your back, Ellie," he said quietly, then ran ahead to the field.

But Fred had her back. Everything would be okay.

* * *

It was intense.

Ellie shot up into the air at a speed she could hardly believe, and had to get used to it before she could even look for the Quaffle. Obviously Katie was also getting used to the speed of the Cleansweep after her old one, too. Oliver sent them both slightly murderous looks that pretty much said 'get your act together.'

Luckily Ellie was the first to grab the Quaffle, and she made her way to the goals so quickly that the Slytherin Keeper didn't even know she was coming; she made the first score easily. Applause shot out from the stands, and she was thrilled to be back in the game again.

At least, until a Bludger whisked right next to her head, almost decapitating her.

She spun around, wondering where the twins were, and saw that George's expression was horrified and Fred's furious. Fred's arm was still raised from batting it out of the way of her, but apparently it had curved around anyway, something Bludgers weren't supposed to do. When she saw it again, she saw that it was getting way too close to Harry. Luckily George sped up to him and batted it out of the way, but it whisked right back around.

Ellie shook her head in disbelief. What was going on?

"Ellie!" Oliver shouted, and she remembered her job in this game. She sighed and glanced around for the Quaffle, luckily catching a surprising toss from Angelina, who was in a bad place to be: between the bad Bludger and Harry.

Ellie didn't have a clear shot to the goals, but tossed it to Katie, who luckily was able to make it in. But the other Bludger nailed her in the leg, and she spiraled away, almost falling off her broom.

Ellie's eyes widened and she looked around to yell at the twins, but she saw that they were both protecting Harry, who looked almost as angry as Fred.

Without the Beaters, Ellie, Angelina, and Katie realized they'd have to fend for themselves. Though the second Bludger wasn't as bad as the one attacking Harry, it was still dangerous, and they knew not to let it get them. But without them scoring goals, the Slytherins were scoring the goals, and Ellie could tell by the look on Oliver's face that his heart was practically breaking.

When Slytherin was winning by much more than any of them were comfortable with, Ellie saw Harry signal something to Oliver, who then caught Madam Hooch's attention and asked for a time-out. The three girls, obviously relieved, were the first to land; Harry was next, with Fred and George on either side of him, still beating away the rogue Bludger; and finally, a seething Oliver.

"Madam Hooch!" he said. "This is crazy! That Bludger's so obviously been tampered with!"

"I'm sorry, Oliver," Madam Hooch said. "There's nothing we can do but let the game continue until someone wins."

"Look, both of the Beaters protecting me isn't going to help us win this, and that's what we're here for," Harry said nobly. "You guys need to protect our girls from the other one—I'll take care of myself."

Fred shook his head. "Not both of us, it's suicide."

"I'll stay with you, Harry," George offered. "Don't worry. Fred can look after the girls."

Oliver nodded. "I like it. Actually I hate it, but it's a step above where we are now, at least. So, we ready to go back in the game?"

Everyone nodded, and Madam Hooch blew the whistle.

It was easier with Fred on their watch. Ellie was able to grab the Quaffle from the Slytherins several times, and score several goals herself. The Bludger came near hitting Angelina at one point, but it never got close to hitting Ellie, and Fred kept a good watch on all three of them. Ellie wasn't sure how Harry was doing, but her duty was here and not watching him.

Finally, when she was sure Katie and Angelina could handle the ball, she got to steal a glance around. She spotted Draco taunting Harry about the Bludger, and then—there it was. She saw the Snitch, and Harry did, too.

Unfortunately the Bludger did, too.

George pulled out his bat to hit it, but the Bludger whacked right through the bat, snapping it in half, and hit Harry right in the arm. As he was falling, he reached out and grabbed the Snitch.

"He got it!" Ellie shouted happily, and without warning grabbed Fred and hugged him. It was a strange hug, since they were both on their brooms, but it was the best she had felt in ages, and judging from the warmth she felt from his hug, the same could be said for him. But he pulled away after a few seconds and touched back to the ground.

Ellie glanced at him, but again he was avoiding her eyes, so instead she ran over to Harry, who was wincing in pain and cradling his arm. A swarm of professors were gaggling around him, but she was able to push through.

"Harry, are you okay?" she asked. "Where does it hurt?"

"Elbow," he managed, "and probably a few other bones…"

"Well, we'll get you to the hospital wing, and Madam Pomfrey can heal you up in no time," she said encouragingly. "Can you stand up?"

"Nonsense, nonsense, no need to go all the way out there," said a dreadfully familiar voice.

Harry's eyes widened in horror at Lockhart. "It's not far—I'm going anyway," he insisted.

"Nonsense," Lockhart repeated cheerfully, "I learned and practiced this simple spell many times, there's no reason to be worried." And without further warning he whisked out his wand, placed it on Harry's limp arm, and uttered a spell none of them had ever heard of before.

Everyone waited nervously, staring at Harry's arm. Ellie was the first to notice how flexible it looked.

"Does it—? It looks to me like it's sort of just hanging there," she said, not sure how to form the sentence.

Harry looked beyond furious. "That's because _there's no bones!_"

Everyone gasped; Lockhart looked too mortified to speak. "Yes—yes—that does sometimes happen," he mumbled, and stood up. "Better get you to Madam Pomfrey, then."

* * *

Everyone was in an outrage about what Lockhart had done, McGonagall most of all. Everyone sent Harry cards and candy, but he wasn't allowed visitors, something Ellie didn't really understand. And when had she ever followed rules?

She went up the boys' dormitories as she often did that day, uncomfortably entering the second-years' to see Dean in his pajamas and Seamus in boxers.

"Oi, privacy!" Seamus screeched, diving under his covers.

Ellie snickered.

"What's up, Ellie?" Dean asked, looking nervous but not too self-conscious.

"Er," she said, "I was actually just coming to fetch something of Harry's, if you don't mind—just an old cloak he wanted to keep him warm." Dean nodded easily, so she crossed the room to Harry's trunk and pulled out the Invisibility Cloak. Luckily Dean didn't pry.

"You're welcome to stay, if you like," Dean offered when she reached the doorway.

"Uh, thanks, but I should get this to him," she mumbled, and quickly turned left to the fourth-year boys' dorms. Fred and George were both normally dressed, and their roommates hadn't come up yet.

"Hey, boys," she greeted. "Interesting game today, eh?"

George nodded; Fred continued reading his book, something rare for him. She could tell the random outburst he'd made earlier wasn't a white flag.

"Anyway, I was going to sneak down to the hospital wing to wish Harry luck with the whole bone-growing thing," she said. "Snagged his cloak. Want to join me?"

"Homework," Fred replied, not looking up.

"I know it sounds like a cop-out, but I actually do have loads of homework," George said sincerely. "Sorry, El. Tell Harry I said good luck, though."

She nodded, spirits falling, and left. She pulled on the cloak as she passed Dean's door, then headed out of the portrait and to the hospital wing.

Luckily someone was walking in as she arrived, so she was able to slip through the door crack before it fully closed. Madam Pomfrey was just finishing serving Harry his bedtime potion when she crept over to them, so she waited until she was safely gone to make herself known. She then pulled the cloak away from her face and knelt beside his cot.

"Ellie!" he practically yelped. Luckily no one heard him. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I figured you wanted company. I hope you don't mind me stealing the cloak."

He laughed, relaxing. "No, I'm actually glad you did. You're right, it's really boring and pretty lonely here. What's been going on since I left?"

"Nothing much," she replied. "Oliver's furious about the Bludger, obviously, but thrilled that we won. He's really happy with you."

"Well, that's good," he said, nodding, then winced. "This doesn't feel too good."

"Growing bones?" Ellie asked, and laughed. "I wouldn't think so."

"Come on, then," he said after a second, scooting over on his cot. "You didn't come all this way to kneel on the hard floor." She smiled gratefully and sat upright on the cot, staying under the cloak just in case.

"It's weird, not seeing you," Harry said, frowning. "Just because no one else is in here doesn't mean—"

She laughed. "Just feels safer," she explained, and lied back down, not feeling uncomfortable in the slightest.

"Can I ask you a personal question?" Harry asked her.

"Shoot."

"Who is it, really? In your life. Dean? Oliver? Fred? Don't think I'm accusing you of not being able to make up your mind or anything, I just wonder."

"No, it's fine," she said, and had to think about it. "I don't know. Do you really want me to tell you about the complications of my confusing life?"

He laughed. "Maybe if you were a little less overdramatic about it."

"Fair enough," she admitted. "Okay. Well, Dean's my boyfriend, and I like him because being with him is safe, not intimidating or dangerous or anything. Being with Oliver would be dangerous, which is partly why I feel so drawn to him. And Fred… Fred's just, you know, that guy who will always be there and who I have this connection with."

"Wow," Harry said, nodding. "You do deal with things you're too young for."

She laughed. "I know. I make everything seem so deep and meaningful. I complicate everything."

"It's not really a bad thing," he said. "Just unusual. At least you're maturing quickly, right?"

She shrugged and laughed. "Guess so."

She could tell he was about to ask another question, but they were interrupted by a surprising _pop _and the appearance of a small green creature Ellie recognized as a house-elf. She tried to keep completely still, not even moving when Harry sat up.

"Dobby!" he nearly shouted. "What are you doing here?"

Ellie remembered Harry telling her about Dobby ages ago, before they came to Hogwarts this year. What had he said? She couldn't even remember.

"Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby greeted. "Dobby is so sorry for what has happened to you!"

Harry shook his head. "No, it's fine, Dobby, not your fault—"

"Oh, but it is, it is my fault!" Dobby insisted miserably. "It is and there's no turning back, and Harry Potter is not safe here, you must go home, sir!"

Harry shook his head. "What?" he demanded.

"Hogwarts is unsafe enough as it is, and that's without Bludgers attacking you, sir! And you live your life on the Quidditch field, it's very bad, very, very bad—"

Harry's eyes widened furiously, and he grabbed Dobby by the disgustingly overused, never cleaned shirt. "Dobby," he said. "Did you jinx that Bludger?"

Dobby wailed and hit his head on the floor. "Dobby did, sir, I did and I am sorry!"

Harry seemed to be connecting the same dots Ellie was: how desperate was Dobby, exactly, for Harry not to come here? "At the beginning of term," Harry said, "at the platform—was that _you _who made the barrier?"

Dobby nodded, lower lip quivering, before he burst into sobs again.

"Dobby, _shut up_!" Harry shouted fiercely. "_Why _don't you want me to go to Hogwarts so much?"

"Because, sir, because! The Chamber of Secrets has been opened… again!"

Ellie's head snapped around to question Harry, until she remembered he couldn't see her anyway. Instead she waited for him to ask her own question: "Again?"

Dobby shook his head. "No, no, Dobby must tell nothing else but say that Harry Potter must not stay. Must not!"

"I'm staying, Dobby," Harry said. "You know I am. And what do you mean, again—?"

But they heard voices outside the door to the clinic, and with another pop Dobby disappeared. The door opened seconds later to reveal Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Madam Pomfrey all carrying a stiff, unmoving body.

Ellie didn't recognize the body, only noticed that it was holding a camera in front of its face. It was Harry who breathed in sharply and whispered, "Colin Creevey."

Ellie understood now: Colin was the first-year who was nearly obsessed with Harry, taking pictures of him constantly and never leaving his side in the halls. This must not be easy for Harry to see.

"Another one," Pomfrey was saying. "This isn't looking good, Headmaster."

"No, indeed," Dumbledore agreed. Ellie sensed a worry in his voice that he was trying to hide. "I take the threats and the results very seriously—I am just glad at this point nothing worse than Petrifying has taken place."

"Something needs to be done," McGonagall advised him. "Safety codes, at least."

"Our safety rules will, of course, be strengthened," Dumbledore agreed. "What other actions we will take depend on what our parents and committees think; it is not entirely in my hands."

"But, sir, these attacks," Madam Pomfrey pressed. "Do they mean it's true, about the Chamber?"

"Oh, yes," Dumbledore said certainly. "I believe it to be true. The Chamber of Secrets has been opened again."

* * *

The end. Not too much happened in this chapter so I'm sure you want an UPDATE! So REVIEW!

Thanks for reading.


	28. The Domino Effect

You guys! Thank you so much for the reviews! That is exactly what I always want from my readers! Keep that up and I promise to post WAY more often : )

Enjoy! A lot happens in this chapter...

Chapter 10: The Domino Effect

Ellie wanted to stay the night with Harry, but her keeping him up prevented him from sleeping through the pain, so she left when McGonagall, Dumbledore, and Madam Pomfrey did. She was able to get through the Fat Lady without complaint, but when she got into her own dorm room, Hermione was up and waiting.

"You went to see Harry, didn't you?" Hermione demanded, seeing the Invisibility Cloak balled up in Ellie's arms.

"Yeah," Ellie admitted, shoving it into her trunk for the time being until she could get it back to Harry's. "I did. And I saw another petrified student. Hermione, I'm getting really worried."

Hermione's eyes glowed fear, but she didn't say anything fearful. "Who was it?"

"Colin Creevey, the first-year who's always taking pictures of Harry," Ellie explained. "He had a camera in front of his face, but they checked the film and couldn't see anything."

"Well, according to Binns it's some kind of great beast that's doing this," Hermione said. "What's a great beast that can petrify students?"

Ellie shook her head. "I have no idea. Hit the library tomorrow? We've only got a few weeks before Christmas break, and I don't want them to decide not to let us come back."

Hermione shrugged. "Well, I'm staying, so's Ron, and obviously Harry."

"And obviously me," Ellie agreed.

"Well, let's get some sleep and talk to the boys about it in the morning," Hermione said. "Harry should be out by then."

The only thing Ellie didn't like was that 'the boys' used to mean Fred and George, too.

* * *

Dumbledore announced the latest news at breakfast. Ellie forgot to pretend not to know, and for the second time Dean wondered how she knew.

"Well, when I brought the cloak for Harry," Ellie said uncomfortably, "I saw Colin's body."

Hermione seemed to give her approval to this statement with a shrug and a nod.

Dean glanced at both of them before asking, "Er, who's Colin?"

"A first-year," Hermione replied. "Totally obsessed with Harry. And now, apparently, put in the hospital wing until the Mandrakes are ready." She shuddered a little.

Seamus, the only one who hadn't been paying attention, brought up something else, and they tried to keep the topic away from all things Chamber of Secrets-focused until they were released for first period. As usual Ellie walked with the group, but saw a very nervous-looking Ginny on the way. She pulled Ginny aside and looked at her curiously.

"Gin, you're pale as a ghost," she said, touching her friend's cold cheek. "What's going on with you?"

Ginny shook her head. "Nothing—nothing at all," she stammered. "We should play again sometime, don't you think? At least practice…" She seemed distracted.

"Sure," Ellie said. In fact she had been starting a new song. But that wasn't the point; Ginny was trying to change the subject. "Just give me a hint as to what's going on. Are you sick? Are you scared of everything that's going on with the Chamber? Are you scared of something else?"

Ginny stared at her for a second. There was a clear look of terror in her dark eyes that Ellie knew was something big.

"Talk to me," Ellie pleaded. "I want to help you."

But Ginny shook her head and ran away.

Ellie ran a hand through her tangled hair, trying to think of what to do, and as usual the only thing she could think of was to find Fred. She pulled out her locket and focused, glowing him. Nothing happened. She sighed and focused on sending him a message: _Really important._

His face appeared in the locket a second later. "What is it?" he asked.

"It's Ginny," she whispered back, pressing herself against a wall. She'd be late to class, but she could handle it. "Something's really wrong, Fred. I don't know exactly what—"

"Stay there," he said, and his face disappeared. She crossed her arms and waited for a few minutes before he ran around the corner, looking out of breath.

"What's going on?" he asked. "This better not just be an attempt at—"

"At what, winning you back?" she asked sharply. "It's not. I'm not asking your forgiveness when I didn't do anything wrong."

He looked surprised, but she knew it was best. She was sick of trying to talk to him and being snubbed when she hadn't even done anything. He was the one going out of line here, not her.

"Okay, lately Ginny's been acting weird," Ellie said. "When I saw her just now, she was pale as a ghost and her face was cold. I asked her if something was scaring her, and… You should've seen the look in her eyes when I brought up the Chamber of Secrets."

His expression was pained; he obviously didn't like hearing about his sister in such a tortured state. "What do you think it is?" he asked.

She shook her head. "I don't know. Maybe someone's threatened her? Maybe she knows more about it than any of us."

"But why _Ginny_?"

She shook her head again.

"Well, we have to talk to someone," he said. "McGonagall wouldn't listen to us. D'you reckon it's worth going to Dumbledore about?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm telling you, Fred, that look she had…" She got scared just thinking about it.

He looked at her for a second. He was trying to see what she had seen, and he looked sad for her. "Let's go," he said, and they began to walk.

Neither of them knew the password to get to Dumbledore's office, but both of them knocked enough to annoy anyone into opening the door. And apparently it worked, because the door opened and they both jumped onto the spiraling staircase, up into the headmaster's office.

"Ah, Miss Bretherworth, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore greeted when he saw them. "What an interesting surprise. Perhaps I should give you both my password to prevent future experiences like this."

"My name's not Bretherworth," Ellie mumbled.

Dumbledore raised his eyebrows. "What is it, then?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea."

Ellie and Fred stood in silence as Dumbledore sat at his desk, eyes twinkling in amusement, until Fred cleared his throat, remembering the point of this. "We're really worried about my sister, Professor," he said.

"Ah, Ginevra," he said. "I hear from her teachers that so far she has been an excellent student."

"Have any of them said she's been acting strangely lately?" Ellie asked. "Pale, awkward, stammering?"

This seemed to catch Dumbledore's attention. "As a matter of fact," he said, "yes, I have been told that. Do you have any idea why?"

Ellie bit her lip and nodded. "Yes, sir. When I asked her what was wrong, she didn't answer me, but I asked if it had anything to do with the Chamber of Secrets, and… Well, she didn't say anything, exactly, but her reaction was obvious."

Dumbledore crossed his arms, thinking. "You know, Miss…" He laughed a little. "Elena. You know how serious things are getting at this school. You knew before everyone else, really, about Colin Creevey. You also knew about Mrs. Norris, and everything that is going on."

She tried not to give anything away when he mentioned Colin, although he already seemed to know.

"Perhaps Miss Weasley does, too. Perhaps the seriousness of it all is affecting her more than her peers. She is an intelligent girl. I'm surprised more students aren't scared."

Ellie shook her head. "Sir, I really think there's more to it than her being scared."

"I appreciate your concern, and I'll have everyone keep an eye on her," Dumbledore said, "but really, there's nothing I can do without more proof that something is going on."

And, like that, Ellie had to forget everything that had happened.

* * *

She was too frustrated to talk to Fred, so she ran in the opposite direction as soon as she left the spiral staircase. She could hardly believe that she was mad at Dumbledore, but she was. She was mad at Dumbledore and worried about Ginny and mad at Fred and frustrated with Dean, and there were too many emotions running through her mind for her to handle.

She had promised to meet Harry, Ron, and Hermione in Myrtle's bathroom at lunch to work on their Polyjuice Potion, which they had already started that morning. Ellie wasn't in the mood for socializing, but she wanted to get a warning in about Ginny with them, and she also wanted to do something to get her mind off everything that was frustrating her.

"Ellie!" Hermione shouted when she came in. "I told all the professors you were sick! I got all your assignments, but you don't deserve it—and you left me alone in Snape's class! That was wretched of you."

"I had a good reason," Ellie said in her defense. "I have to talk to you three. Especially you, Ron."

Ron looked surprised. "What's wrong, Fred and George stuff?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. Ginny stuff."

Hermione and Harry glanced at each other as if they had already talked about Ginny's strange behavior; Ron, however, looked worried and confused.

"She's been really weird lately," Ellie said, "and when I confronted her she sort of inwardly flipped out, I think. She didn't say anything, but when I mentioned the Chamber of Secrets, her eyes got really frightened. I think something big might be going on with her."

"And you were gone two periods, what, analyzing this?" Hermione asked less harshly but still rudely.

Ellie rolled her eyes. "No, I went to Dumbledore about it with Fred, but Dumbledore said there was nothing he could do without proof except tip the other professors off."

"Well, that's something," Ron said. "What d'you reckon is wrong?"

She shrugged. "No idea, honestly. What could little Ginny be doing that's so scary?"

But it turned out none of them had any ideas, either.

* * *

"Look at this," Harry said. They were walking in the hallway, and Dean had taken Ellie's hand. She took Harry's remark as a good excuse to let go; his hand was pretty clammy and uncomfortable.

"Tired of the workbook spells you learn in class?" she read aloud. "Want to learn to properly defend yourself? Come to the Great Hall tomorrow night to the Dueling Club's first meeting."

"Wow," said Harry. "That's great!"

Hermione looked doubtful. "I wonder who's sponsoring it."

Ellie shrugged. "Dunno, but I think it's great that they're doing something about it. I know everyone's been really on edge and scared lately."

"Everyone?" Seamus asked. "Not anyone I've talked to. Something we should know?"

Ellie frowned. "Er, no, I don't know why I said that."

Dean and Seamus exchanged a look, which made Ellie and Hermione exchange a look, which made Ron nearly shout, "Okay, let's clear the air here and stop with the secretive looks."

"We just feel like we're out of the loop," Seamus explained. "I mean, even with Dean going out with one of you, we still don't know everything."

"'One of us?'" Ron repeated.

Seamus nodded. "You know, the whole A-list, top witch and wizard, like, we-fought-You-Know-Who's-ghost-thing-last-year-so-we're-better-than-you-and-get-to-know-important-stuff group."

"That was a really long description," Ellie marveled.

"Okay, but you get the point," said Seamus. "So, is there something you're not telling us?"

"Trust me, I wish I knew whatever you think I know," Ellie said. Hermione, Ron, and Harry nodded in agreement.

"But if you found out whatever it is, you'd tell us?" Dean asked, looking straight at her. She bit her lip uncomfortably; the truth was, she felt no inclination to tell him anything of importance.

"Of course she will, she's your girlfriend," Seamus said for her.

She shrugged.

"What a beautiful relationship," Ron snickered, but luckily Dean didn't hear him. Instead they walked to class.

* * *

It was Lockhart who was sponsoring the Dueling Club.

Ellie could actually hear quite a few people groan as they stepped in the room. Dean just laughed, and Hermione didn't seem to know what to say; obviously she doubted he could do the job. Harry and Ron faked puking. Ellie found herself searching for the twins to see their reactions, but instead bumped into Oliver.

"Ellie," he greeted, nodding at her. "Haven't talked to you since the game—awesome job out there." He seemed to be looking straight at Dean as he talked to her.

"Thanks, Oliver," she said, laughing uncomfortably.

"So, still with the shrimp, I see?" Oliver asked cheerfully.

Ellie thought she saw Dean's jawbone clench a little. "Yeah, she is," he said, "and not with you, and I see that you're a pretty sore loser."

Ellie raised her eyebrows. Loser?

"Actually, she told me she's with you for _safety, _and when she wants a real, _fun _relationship, she'll give me a call." He gave Dean a very condescending smirk. "And that was after she kissed me."

No one could have predicted what came next, since Dean seemed like the figure of passiveness until then. But Dean threw him a very bad punch—which Oliver easily avoided. Instead Dean's fist hit the wall behind him, and he yelped in pain. Several of the people around them laughed.

"Call me when you want a real man, El," Oliver said in her ear as he walked away.

"Dean," she said, taking his fist, which luckily wasn't bleeding and was only bruised. "Look, I'm so sorry, I didn't kiss him—he was just trying to get you riled up, I mean technically he kissed me, but it wasn't like—"

Dean glared at her. "_Safety_?" he demanded. "That's all I am to you?"

Her eyes widened, and she went from sorry to defensive. "You're going to believe him? Dean, you just sucker punched him—or at least tried. Shouldn't that mean you don't trust him much?"

But he was too busy glaring at her. "Some girlfriend you are," he said hurtfully.

She glared at him. "Don't worry, I'm definitely not your girlfriend any more!" she nearly shouted, and pushed herself out of the crowd of people around her until she was grabbed by someone. When she turned to see who it was, she saw Fred. Just seeing his face made everything seem fine.

"Ellie," he said softly.

"Don't worry about me, I'm fine," she said. Surprisingly it was the truth; she felt remarkably unaffected by the breakup. In fact, the swirl of drama that had erupted was actually exciting and almost good for her. She would never admit it, but she was so tired of being bored. "You can go back to hating me."

"Ellie," he repeated. "I'd rather go back to being your friend."

Even though she was thrilled with hearing it, she felt a kind of resentment for the timing. "Why, because I'm broken up with Dean? If a new boy comes along, will you go right back to hating me?" She couldn't help it; she still felt the rush of anger and exhilaration of admitting what she felt.

"Students, students!" Lockhart shouted. "I think I have just witnessed a breakup! But whatever it was, I think our attentions should be diverted to me."

"It wasn't about that," Fred whispered to her. "You know it was more complicated than that. But for what it's worth, I admit it was unfair of me. I just… I liked being the number one guy in your life, El. And no matter what you say, whether I'm your best friend or not, you having a boyfriend changes that."

He had a point. She had known that was what it was about from the start, even if she had liked to believe—for reasons she didn't even understand—he was jealous.

"So did you really kiss Oliver?" Fred whispered.

She rolled her eyes. "No," she said, half laughing, and shoved him. He smiled and put an arm around her shoulders and squeezed, in a friendly gesture, before going back to paying attention.

"…will help me demonstrate. Professor Snape?"

Snape stood up, looking grumpy as ever, and Ellie wrinkled her nose with dislike. She hadn't talked to Snape—at least, any real conversation—since asking him whether he was her uncle. She didn't plan to have any more.

Snape and Lockhart raised their wands.

"My money's on your half uncle," Fred whispered.

"No deal, I agree," she whispered back, and they watched.

Lockhart started to say a long spell, but Snape came in with _Expelliarmus _much faster. Lockhart's wand was thrown from his hand, and he himself was thrown backwards. All the students around the elevated stage laughed; most of them had expected it, and most of them had wanted it. A few of the girls sighed disappointedly.

Lockhart said something about giving Snape the upper hand, then Snape suggested giving the students a try. Ellie bit her lip, praying he wouldn't pick her, but it wasn't much of a relief when he picked Harry and Draco.

"Okay, now who's your money on?" she whispered.

Fred considered. "I'm sorry to say I'm giving it to the blond."

She nodded. "Wise choice. Two Sickles says neither wins, something odd plays out."

"One Sickle, I'm poor, remember?" he asked, but he was only joking around, so it didn't make her feel too uncomfortable. "And you're on."

They watched intensely as wands were lifted. As Ellie had partially expected, Draco went first, technically by cheating and going too early but in a way that probably wouldn't get him caught. She didn't recognize the spell he said, but she wouldn't have remembered it anyway; her attention was caught on the snake that shot out of his wand.

Everyone gasped, and many people shrieked. Ellie grabbed Fred's arm sharply. The snake landed on the stage floor and began to slither around dangerously.

"I know just the spell!" Lockhart said, and pointed his wand at the snake.

"Yeah, that always works," Ellie muttered. Fred snickered.

Sure enough, the spell only seemed to cause harm; the snake turned, obviously with a target now, and headed straight toward Justin Finch-Fletchley, a boy in Hufflepuff that Ellie had never cared for.

That was when it happened: Harry began to speak, but in a language none of them had heard before. He seemed to hiss, and it was obvious from the snake's reaction that he was speaking snake. The snake still went after Justin, but a few seconds into Harry's hissing it seemed to give out, and collapsed into a heap.

"Was that… snake language?" Ellie whispered to Fred.

He nodded, eyes wide. "Parseltongue."

She extended a hand. "One Sickle, please."

* * *

"Don't worry, Harry," Ellie said to him the next morning in the library. "The holiday's almost here, and most of them will go home and talk about you to their families instead of their friends. You don't really care what old people think about you, do you?"

"Yeah, thanks, Ellie," he groaned. "That's helping."

She laughed. "Sorry. I don't think it's a big deal, though. So you speak snake language. It doesn't make you inherently evil. You were trying to save Justin, anyway."

"Which I tried to explain to him, but I was interrupted by Ernie and his friends suggesting that I'm the Heir of Slytherin."

She rolled her eyes. "Ernie's an idiot, Harry. No one seriously believes that you're the Heir."

He nodded. "I hope not. So what was all the drama with you and the guys yesterday?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Long story. Well, not really. Oliver was being an idiot, Dean was being a bigger idiot, and Fred finally stopped being an idiot."

Harry laughed. "Drama. Last week you said you wanted to be with Dean, for safety and all?"

She shrugged. "He tried to punch Oliver. That's not too safe, anyway. And that was about the most awkward, lame excuse for a relationship I've ever heard of."

"So definitely over?"

She nodded, then sighed. "I feel like such a twit. I'm really sorry I've been like this, Harry. Let's talk about something else, okay?"

He shrugged and nodded. "Sure, but I don't mind, El. I'm here for you if you need me."

She smiled. "Thanks. But I think you need me to be here for you a little more, eh?"

She spent the rest of the day with Harry. She was on good terms with Fred and wanted to take advantage of it, but Harry needed her the most right now. She avoided the common room at all costs to give Dean some cooling off time, and spent a bit of time in Myrtle's bathroom concocting the Polyjuice Potion.

After dinner they continued their adventures with a long, tired walk across the school. Ellie and Harry took turns complaining, Ellie about the unfairness of boys and Harry about the unfairness of being thought of as evil when in fact he wasn't, until their legs hurt and they were too tired to walk any more. They passed a confused-looking Hagrid on the way back to the common rooms, and were crossing the last hallway when Harry tripped over something.

Ellie gasped. "Harry!" she shouted, and pointed at the ground he had tripped on. His eyes widened from beneath his glasses when he saw the stone-cold body of Justin.

"Oh, God," he said, and his eyes lifted to see the equally unmoving, yet floating, ghost-body of Nearly Headless Nick. "Oh, God," he repeated.

"We can't run this time, Harry," Ellie said. "I felt horrible."

He nodded. "But what—"

A shriek sounded from behind them, and Harry's question was answered. "It's Potty and the rock star!" he shouted in a dreadful, screeching voice. "They've done it, they've done it, they're the perpetrators!" He beelined out of the hallway, still screeching 'Potty and the rock star,' until at least five professors and thirty students had flooded into the hallway to see what was going on—and to see Ellie and Harry, kneeling over the body of Justin. Ellie wouldn't blame them in the slightest for believing it was them.

McGonagall was the first of the swarm to say something. "Potter!" she shouted. "Elena!"

At least she had remembered the right name.

"Come with me at once."

And they were led to Professor Dumbledore's office.

* * *

That's all for this update but I promise to post again by the end of the weekend if you guys shower me with reviews again! (Okay, "shower" is an exaggeration, but I really appreciated the feedback, guys. Thanks.)

Thanks for reading and REVIEW!


	29. Potions for Christmas

Okay guys, you came back with more reviews, so as promised here is the next chapter by the end of the weekend! Wow, I think every single one of those reviews bitched about Oliver. lol. Don't worry guys, it's not headed in that direction. Just had to use him for dramatic intrigue, you know.

Anyway here it is!

**Chapter 11: Potions for Christmas**

Ellie and Harry found themselves sitting in Dumbledore's office ten minutes later, waiting impatiently for the headmaster to arrive, both too nervous to speak.

"Are we going to get expelled?" Ellie asked.

"No!" Harry said. "That would be crazy."

She laughed nervously. "Of course it would. Totally crazy. But, I mean…"

"Ellie," he interrupted. She thought he just wanted her to stop talking, but she followed his line of vision to something in the room. "Look, it's the Sorting Hat."

She shrugged. "So?"

"So, a lot of what's happening this year has got me wondering if it made the right decision about me," Harry said. "I would never admit it to anyone else, but, you know." He shrugged. "Think I should give it a go?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I do. I think you need closure on this. I do, too. For something different."

"Well, you can go first," he said, but she shook her head; she knew it was more important for him. It was up high, though, so she ended up having to climb on his shoulders to reach it. It was the first time in a long time she was thankful for being so underweight.

She handed him the hat and sat back down, then waited patiently as he closed his eyes, obviously having the same telepathic conversation with the hat that they all had had the previous year. He seemed to get more and more agitated until he yanked it off his head in frustration.

"Wow," she said. "Didn't go so well?"

He shook his head. "Said the same thing—that I would've done well in Slytherin."

"Well, that doesn't mean you don't belong in Gryffindor," she offered. "Harry, you're made for Gryffindor. You're, like, the dictionary definition."

He laughed as nicely as possible. "Thanks," he said. "I just wish the hat agreed."

"Mind if I use it for myself?" she asked, and he shook his head. She placed the hat carefully on her head, and immediately it spoke to her.

_Typically I'm used for Sorting, _it said snidely. _That's why I'm the Sorting Hat._

"Well, we come to you in our times of need," she said in her head, glad Harry couldn't hear her. "I know you said you couldn't tell me, but please, it's really important and I'm going to find out anyway, one way or another…"

_Yes, yes, I remember you. I told you Bretherworth was a disguise, and your attention lit up._

"Exactly!" she mind-shouted. "When I talked to Quirrel—who, really, was Voldemort—he said my dad was worthless."

_Worthless, eh? Not what I've been informed. Maybe the books have it wrong on that one?_

"Please," she begged. "A name? A hint? Who was my father?"

_Dumbledore would kill me if I told you anything. It shouldn't matter much to you—if one thing's for sure, it's that he's locked away now._

"I don't even know my last name," Ellie pleaded.

_No, but you know what your dad wanted you to go by. And if you're so keen on believing he's not evil, then respect his wishes._

And she could tell it was done speaking.

She groaned and thrust it off in the same manner Harry had, then shrieked when she saw Dumbledore. "Sir!" she said. "I'm—I'm so sorry, I just had to have a word with the hat—"

Dumbledore laughed. "It's perfectly all right, Elena," he said. "I was just having a discussion with Harry here on phoenixes and how they are reborn from their ashes."

Ellie turned to see a baby bird cawing a beautiful melody, bathed in ashes its own color. It should have been revolting in a way, but the only thing she saw was beauty.

"Wow," she breathed. "I've never seen one before."

"Sir, sir, it wasn't them!" shouted a loud, frantic, deep voice from behind them as Hagrid invaded their not-so-intense discussion. "I saw them, seconds before it all went down, and… it just can't have been, Professor Dumbledore, sir, you must believe me!"

Dumbledore chuckled. "I do believe, you, Rubeus; I never thought otherwise."

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Oh, definitely not," Dumbledore replied. "Quite honestly I don't think you have the skill, Harry. I should like to flatter myself by saying my second-years do, but it is nearly impossible."

Hagrid exhaled deeply. "Well, that's a relief," he managed. "I guess I'll be going, then." And he left.

Dumbledore nodded, his eyes twinkling in amusement again, and he turned to Ellie. "Elena, if you would join Rubeus outside, there are a few words I would like to exchange with Harry."

She nodded carefully, feeling a little hurt.

"Sir, anything you can say to me, Ellie can hear," Harry said surprisingly strongly. "I trust her completely."

Ellie smiled, mostly inwardly.

"Very well, then," Dumbledore said, "though I have no specific words for you—more a question. I have sensed all year that something is wrong with you, Harry, and I must ask if there is anything you would like to tell me."

Ellie glanced at Harry. This would really be the perfect opportunity for him to find the answer he was looking for about Slytherin, and she expected him to ask, but he didn't. Instead he said, "No, sir, there's nothing."

Dumbledore looked disappointed, but not entirely surprised. He nodded. "If you're sure, then you are free to go. Elena, in case you were wondering, I have tipped all Miss Weasley's professors off about her behavior, and they have promised to alert me of the first signs of trouble."

Ellie nodded, even though it honestly wasn't enough for her.

"I guess we'll be going, then," said Harry, and they did.

* * *

Ellie felt more and more of a bond growing between her and Harry as the last few weeks of first term rolled to a close. They were both staying for Christmas, as well as Ron, Hermione, the twins, and many others—and, most importantly, Draco and his crew. They planned to be finished with the Polyjuice Potion by Christmas.

Her first encounter with Dean was in the common room two weeks after their breakup, the last week before the holidays. Dean was talking to Seamus, as usual, and Ellie was talking to Fred. When Fred left, Seamus shouted, "Hey, El, get that ingredient for Snape for me?"

This was a perfectly appropriate question; Ellie had promised to get an ingredient for a potion that Seamus had forgotten about for him. She nodded and rifled through her bag, then came over and handed it to him. "Hey, Dean," she said as carefully as possible.

He stared at her for a second, then nodded. "Hey." He glanced at Seamus as if debating whether he should do what he was thinking about doing, then said, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

She nodded, glad he had asked. She wanted the awkwardness to be over between them.

"I'm sorry for how I treated you the day we broke up," he said. "I got out of line. It's just, you know how we never kissed, or anything, and I always wondered whether you had with Oliver…"

She shrugged. "Would it have mattered?"

"It would have mattered if you kissed him when you were my girlfriend," he replied, "yeah. I know you didn't take us very seriously, but you at least owed me exclusiveness."

"Of course I did," she said. "And I didn't kiss him. He tried kissing me, once, and I'm really sorry it happened. It wasn't fair to you. Oliver just has this weird infatuation with me."

Dean nodded. "A lot of guys do. I was lucky to have you, El."

She wasn't sure what to say.

"So do you think we were really bad for each other?" he asked. "Or would you be willing to give me another shot?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Sorry, but I think I'm going to have to say no. Friends, though, right? I hate the whole avoiding-each-other thing."

Dean nodded. "Friends, of course."

She smiled, glad how things had worked out, and peered around the room for her other target: Oliver. She found him looking right at her.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Hey," he replied. "Make amends with the ex, or finally cut ties?"

"Cut ties," she replied. "But I'm still mad at you."

He shrugged. "Sorry, I couldn't help it. You're just so cute."

She groaned. "Oliver, you're going to have to get over this. There are, like, tons of cute girls in your year. Why am I the only one you care about?"

"You know you enjoy it," Oliver said cheerfully. "And they're boring. I'd date you for your voice alone. Or your personality. Or your eyes. Or your hair. I mean, put those together and you're irresistible."

She sighed. "Well, you're going to have to resist. Staying over break?"

"Nah, going in with my parents. You?"

She laughed. "Definitely staying. So I'll see you in January, then?"

"I can't wait."

But she had a feeling she'd be thinking about a lot of things besides Oliver over break.

* * *

Everything went well from then until Christmas Day. Ellie still spent a lot of time with Harry to make him feel better, and she tried to spend as much time as possible with Ginny—which proved hard. But her favorite was spending time with the twins again, just like old times. Whoever was wrong about the fight didn't matter; now they were friends again, and that was all that mattered to Ellie. She didn't pretend to understand the rest.

The band debated having a Christmas concert and decided against it. Everyone would be hoping for an Ellie original again, and she hadn't had the inspiration to do a second one yet. Besides that, Ginny was hardly up to their practices and definitely didn't seem ready for a concert.

Finally it was Christmas Eve, and Ellie was thrilled to be with the people she loved. They finished the Polyjuice Potion, the only step remaining for them to get the hairs of their Slytherin people. Now Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ellie, and the twins were all curled up on the sofas in front of the fireplace, enjoying the last minutes before Christmas would come.

"We could do a countdown," Fred offered.

"Isn't that a New Years thing?" Harry asked, laughing.

"Don't expect him to know Muggle traditions," Ellie remind Harry, grinning. "I think it'd be better to just hang out and then be surprised when it's Christmas," she added to Fred.

He shrugged. "Sounds good to me," he said.

"Did you guys see that Ravenclaw kid today?" Harry asked after a second. "Little girl, blonde hair, acted like I was the scariest thing she'd ever seen?"

"Hey," said Ron. "No complaining about your declining public image on this sacred day."

"Nice one, bro," Fred said, nodding.

They were silent again, and this time Ellie spoke. "Guys, I swear, Ginny looked like she was up to something else today—"

"If I can't talk about mine, you can't talk about that," Harry interrupted.

She frowned.

"You know," said Fred, "I don't think we have a lot to talk about without Ellie and Harry's weird, random problems."

"That's pathetic," Hermione said. "I'm sure there's something."

"Maybe it's Christmas by now," Ellie suggested, and glanced at her watch. Sure enough, it was 12:01. She grinned and nodded, and before she knew it she was being assaulted in a huge hug from the twins.

"Happy Christmas!" Fred said when he let go.

She grinned. "I'd say."

* * *

Ellie's favorite present to give was the one she gave to Fred: her own version of an installment of their locket/ring connection. She didn't have the magic skills to do it herself, but she had written to a place in Diagon Alley weeks ago that she wanted some kind of tracking device installed. They sent her two small, glowing, magic chips, which she was able to sneak onto his ring and her locket. Now whenever they were apart, a glowing arrow pointed where the other was.

"That's incredible, El!" Fred exclaimed. "How did you even manage that?"

"I have to admit, it wasn't with my own brilliant powers," she said. "But thought that counts, right?"

"Of course," he replied honestly. "I love it."

He and George had given her the latest frightening installments on their Animagus plans. She still wasn't sure how she felt about them undertaking such a dangerous, illegal plan, but judging from how far they had come, they wouldn't be done until the beginning of her fourth year at least, so she wasn't too worried.

That was all George had gotten her, but Fred also gave her a beautiful stationary set. Harry, when she opened it, told her that it was from both Fred and himself.

"Stationary?" she asked them, raising her eyebrows. "I don't even have anyone to write to."

"Ellie," Fred said.

"I told him about all your issues," Harry said, "most of which he already knew. Snape being your uncle, you not knowing who your father really is? There's one person who can help you, El. Your mother."

"And even if she doesn't reply at first, we think it's worth a shot to try and try again," Fred said. "And maybe, this summer, you should stay at your place. You're welcome at ours, but we want you to be able to find the answers you're looking for."

She knew they were just looking out for her, but she hated it. The thought of being rejected by her mother again made her want to cry. And yet she knew they were right. Which did she want more, to continue avoiding her mother or to find the identity of her father?

She exchanged presents with everyone else—more boring, cliché presents, but still always fun—and they headed out to breakfast, then spent the rest of the day in the common room. Ellie must have gotten out her stationary set ten times to try and draft a letter, but she didn't know what to write, only that her owl, Ringo, must be very bored with her. Luckily she had given Fred joint custody the year before.

Finally it was time for the feast. Dean and Seamus sat on their own, and the six who had been spending a lot of time together lately—Ellie, the twins, and the trio—got seats together. The feast was as exquisite as ever, and had them all madly full. The only one not in a perfect mood was Ellie, who was still in a bad mood with Dumbledore for everything with Ginny and her father.

When the feast was over, Ellie met up with the trio to get directions from Hermione.

"Okay," she said, and handed Harry and Ron each a cupcake. "They're poisoned to make the person fall asleep. Ellie, will you be able to get a girl's hair on your own?"

Ellie nodded. "Sure, I'll just get into a catfight with Pansy Parkinson. You?"

Hermione nodded. "I already have mine, I pulled a hair off Millicent's robes a few days ago."

Harry and Ron grinned in amusement. "So we'll meet up in the common room in, what, half an hour?" Ron asked.

"Oh, and I'll get a map so we know where to go," Ellie said. Maybe the others couldn't know what the Marauder's Map was, but they were allowed to know she had a map.

* * *

It was harder than she had expected to get Fred to lend her the Map without telling him what she was doing, but when he found out there was no way for him to join her, he gave up and handed it over.

Harry and Ron met her in Mrytle's bathroom, Hermione joining them a few minutes later. Everyone had their hairs, which surprised Ellie and Hermione, who hadn't expected the boys to pull it off.

"So we really have to drink this?" Ellie asked when she looked at the mush they had concocted.

Harry nodded grimly. "That and the hairs."

Ellie groaned, mostly inwardly to put on a brave face, and dropped Pansy's hair into her cup. It had proved easy; she just tugged Pansy's hair in the hallway and, when Pansy shrieked at her, she shrugged and apologized. Explaining herself was overrated, anyway.

"Hey, what if Pansy's in the common room?" Ellie asked. "I hadn't thought of that. I guess that's why you two hid Crabbe and Goyle."

"Yeah, but Pansy's not as close with Draco as they are," Hermione said. "It should be fine. If you see her, though, run."

Ellie didn't need to be told twice.

"So," said Harry. "Drink up?"

And they all lifted the glasses to their lips and swallowed.

Ellie was so disgusted by the taste that at first she didn't even notice the effects. But once her mouth recovered, she realized that her skin was bubbling into strange new proportions, flesh thickening, legs lengthening. It was the strangest, creepiest sensation she had ever felt.

When her vision focused, she turned to look at the other three. Hermione had gone into one of the stalls, but Harry and Ron faced her as the heavy-set, grumpy Crabbe and Goyle.

Ellie laughed. "What handsome boys," she teased.

"Oh, no, and I thought _Harry _was ugly!" shrieked the familiar voice of Moaning Myrtle. "What trouble have you gotten yourselves into now?"

"Loads," Ellie said, laughing, "but we can handle it."

Myrtle gave a stiff nod. "Well, you're lucky I haven't reported you," she sniffed, and went back to her toilet. She seemed in an odd mood today, Ellie mused to herself.

"Hermione?" Harry shouted through the stall door. "We should go—did your potion work?"

"Er, not exactly." She sounded like she was crying. "I think I'll stay here—you should go ahead without me."

"Hermione, what's—?" Ron started, but she cut him off with a harsh "Just go!"

Both boys glanced at Ellie as if asking what to do, but she had no idea. She wanted to stay and see what was wrong, but she also wanted to find out the truth about Draco. The latter ended up winning over.

"We'll come back for you as soon as we're done, okay?" she said as nicely as possible. Hermione didn't reply, so they gave up and headed out.

It wasn't hard to find. Not only could Ellie see where it was on the Marauder's Map, she could see where Draco was—and, almost more importantly, Pansy.

"I don't know the password to get in," Ellie whispered as they walked, "but Draco's in the hallway, so he should recognize us and let us in. Harry, take your glasses off!"

He nodded and quickly pulled off his glasses, then said, "Ah, much better. At least he's got good vision."

"I don't know if we're friends," Ellie warned them, "so if Draco asks, I'll act like I'm better than you or something, okay?"

They both snorted. "Great."

Sure enough, when they ran into Draco in the hallway, he looked surprised to see them together. "Pansy," he greeted almost flirtatiously. "And… Crabbe, Goyle." He nodded at his friends, though he looked somewhat embarrassed that she was seeing him in their company.

Ellie definitely liked her edge. At least, she liked the advantage. Having Draco like her was slightly sickening.

"So, you three heading back to the common room?" Draco asked.

"Yeah," Harry-Goyle said, trying to make his voice sound deep. "Can't remember the password, though."

Draco grinned and shook his head, meeting eye contact with Ellie. "Bloody idiots," he told her. "Can't even remember our password—like it wasn't Salazar's biggest trait, respect of purebloods."

She gave him a charming smile and a bit of a laugh; he seemed surprised. She wondered if Pansy was nice to him in real life. She had to remember that she was one of the only girls her age who had gone into the romantic aspects of things already.

Then again, maybe flirting was the edge she needed.

Draco said "Pureblood" to the black stone wall which obviously needed a password, and it swung open the same way the Fat Lady did. Ellie stole a glance at the map to make sure that Pansy wasn't in the Slytherin common room—she wasn't; she was upstairs. She would have to keep an eye on it, though.

"It's been a long day," Draco said, sitting next to Pansy on one of the small sofas. Harry and Ron took seats in the chairs near them, same as in the Gryffindor room. Harry seemed especially edgy.

"It has," Ellie agreed, trying to get to their point quickly. "All the Gryffindors complaining about the writing on the wall again. They're such babies."

Draco seemed impressed; Pansy probably didn't talk so much in real life. "You're right," he said. "I tell them this all the time. Those Gryffindors are the reason Hogwarts is even in this mess. Them and Dumbledore."

"Why's it Dumbledore's fault?" Harry asked, sitting up quickly and slightly angrily.

Ellie, not wanting to blow their cover, glared at him. "Of course it's his fault—telling everyone not to panic but not doing anything about it. He's an awful headmaster."

Draco smirked and put an arm around her shoulders. She noticed Harry's fists clenching. He looked very uneasy.

"Anyway, I was asking them on the way here whether you knew anything about the Heir," Ellie said. "I mean, if anyone knew about the greatness of Slytherin it'd be you, wouldn't it?" She considered batting her eyelashes at him for kicks but figured it would be going too far; Harry wasn't taking her flirting well.

Draco looked flattered, but also annoyed, probably because he didn't have the answer. "I've told them a thousand times, I haven't got a clue. I wish I did—he's doing Hogwarts some real favors, if you ask me."

This time it was Ron who got mad. "Favors? Trying to kill students?"

"Only the bad ones," Draco muttered. Ellie felt a strong urge to pull away from him; it wasn't as fun now that he had said that. "The mudbloods."

Harry made an attempt to get up, which Ron quickly stopped.

"What's gotten into you?" Draco demanded, looking annoyed.

"Food poisoning," Ellie explained for them. "So you really don't know who it is? I figured your dad—" She saw his expression and decided to phrase her sentence carefully. "I mean, he's just such a talented, distinguished wizard, I figured he might have connections there."

Ron looked like he was going to crack up from how fake she sounded; Harry looked like he was going to punch Draco for stroking her arm when he heard that. Draco had no idea.

"He hasn't told me anything, and I don't think he knows anything," Draco replied. "But there's other things to talk about."

She glanced at the boys, who didn't seem to have anything, so she decided to scoop up her chance, bad idea or not.

"Well, I do have one question," she said. "You know that Ellie girl in Gryffindor?"

He nodded grimly. "She'd be good if she were in Slytherin. Made the wrong friends. Wrong allies."

She tried to ignore him. "Well, I got into a fight with her the other day, and she started rambling on about her parents. Do you know anything about them?"

He nodded. "I do, actually. My dad knew both of her parents—he said her mum was a fine Slytherin witch in her day, but she dulled out, especially around the time she got pregnant. And as for her dad…" He frowned.

"What?" Ellie pressed, ignoring the fact that her skin was starting to tingle and Harry and Ron were both glaring at her.

"Well, he's locked up in Azkaban for doing something for they think the Dark Lord had him do," Draco said quietly, leaning closer to her. "But my dad said he didn't even work for him. They got their guys mixed up, or something like that."

Ellie felt herself turning pale.

"Sucks for her, eh? At least she's in Gryffindor. Not our problem."

Ellie had no idea what to say, but luckily she didn't have time to think about it anymore; Harry was giving her a harsh look, glancing in her pocket. He was warning her to check for Pansy, which she hadn't done in a while. She snuck a peek and then jumped up, blushing when Draco's arm was smacked against the sofa.

"Sorry," she said. "I think I'm going to hurl—what was in that food?—I've got to go." But where could she go? Pansy was coming down the girls' stairs, so if she left, Draco would see and then know something was up. Since she had asked about Ellie, he might suspect it was her.

She did the only thing she could think of: ran for the girls' dorms and prayed for a window. Sure enough, just at the bottom was a partially open window. She climbed through it as fast as she could so Pansy wouldn't see her.

When she gathered the nerve to sneak a peek through the window, she saw that Harry and Ron were talking to her. She hoped it wasn't stupid; this was a huge deal. But she left, looking not too confused, and they joined her outside of the window, on an uncomfortably high up ledge.

"So?" Ellie asked. "What happened?"

"We told her Draco was saying she was getting clingy, and she might not want to talk to him for a few days," Ron said. "Well, it was better than that. Harry's good at improv."

Harry gave a strange look and said oddly, "Not as good as Ellie, Miss Draco's girlfriend."

She shrugged. "Worked, didn't it?"

"Hey," snapped Ron, whose red hair was coming back, "I don't remember you finding out about your ancestry being part of the plan."

She ignored him. "Did you hear what he said? It's what I thought—my dad isn't evil!"

"Ellie," said Harry. "You've got to write to your mum."

She sighed. "I know. But you have to admit, finding all that out without her is pretty cool, isn't it? See where a little innocent flirting with creepy Slytherin boys can get me?"

Harry's jaw clenched; Ron was busy looking at the ground and yelping a little.

"How are we going to get inside?" Harry asked, changing the subject.

"Er," Ellie said. "I hadn't gotten that far."

Ron groaned.

"Just give me a second!" Ellie said, thinking. Sure enough, she had the answer a second later. She popped open her locket, and Fred's face appeared seconds later. "Fred," she said. "Look, I really need your help. We're kind of stuck on a ledge outside the Slytherin common room. Think you can follow the arrow or something and pick us up on brooms?"

His expression was both worried and amused. "Sure," he said. "I have some idea where that is. Shall I have George and Oliver join me? I see Harry and Ron there."

"Not Oliver," she said, then blushed. "I just don't want too many people to suspect anything of us," she explained. "We can make it on two brooms. Okay?"

He nodded. "Sure. Catch you soon." He grinned, and the mirror went blank. She snapped her locket shut.

"That thing is very handy," Ron said thoughtfully.

"Hey, you're back," she said, smiling. "I'm glad." She meant his body; Harry, too, was back. She laughed when he put his glasses back on.

"It was nice while it lasted," he said.

"Nah, the glasses suit you," she offered. "I don't like a glasses-less Harry, it's like Dumbledore without a wand, or something."

It was a lame analogy, but Harry seemed touched—a little too touched, really. But Ellie didn't have time to think about it, because seconds later the twins were there for the rescue.

* * *

Ellie couldn't tell how either of the boys felt about the day. Harry was perfectly nice to her but hadn't seemed to recover from the odd Draco experience, and Ron seemed pretty agitated that she had been selfish when they needed answers. Fred and George didn't pry, though she had a feeling they would later.

They split up, the twins to the common room and the other three back to Myrtle's bathroom, shortly after entering the building. Ellie ran to Hermione's stall and knocked. "It's Ellie! Hermione, open up!"

"I can't—I can't!" Hermione sniffed. "I look horrible!"

"You can't look that bad," Ellie said, frowning. "And shouldn't it have worn off by now?"

Another sniff sounded. "I didn't get Millicent's hair," she managed to get out. "I got her cat's." She slowly opened the door, and Ellie came face-to-face with a tall, Hermione-like, cat-like creature.

"Oh, Hermione," Ellie sighed, and hugged her furry friend, stepping on Ron's toe when he laughed out loud.

Ellie heard the not-so-distant cackles of Myrtle, who was thrilled that Hermione was so disfigured, but ignored them as well. "We'll get you cleaned up a little and bring you to the hospital wing, okay?" she asked gently. "I think we'd all appreciate it if you said as little as possible as you can about the potion, but you know your safety's first—say whatever you like, Hermione."

Ron had a speak-for-yourself expression, but it wasn't necessary. "Thanks, El," Hermione said. "I've got something worked out, but thanks for being there for me. You're a great friend."

And that was what counted the most.

* * *

The end! Okay guys, you know the drill by now - if you give me incentive, I will update again in the next few days! If you don't, I'll still update, but we'll be back to my normal stretches of not updating for long periods of time. Which by the way, I'm not doing to be obstinate or anything. I just don't want to update for my OWN benefit. I've read it. I want to do it for YOU GUYS! So, basically, REVIEW! Cause I prefer this anyway. : )


	30. Chasing Hearts

So, before you guys read this chapter, I'd just like to say I wrote this story like two years ago at least (in fact, since I wrote it from their first year through their sixth, it took like two years just to write, so I probably started more like four years ago…) and I was obsessed with the show Instant Star – think I mentioned that earlier. So I put these songs in some chapters for my own benefit, not thinking I'd publish. Now that I have, I don't think it would fit to take them out. So if you think it's stupid, well, I kinda do too. Just bear with me!

And enjoy!

**Chapter 12: Chasing Hearts**

The days following Christmas were short and quick, outlined with trips to the hospital wing to visit Hermione. The strange thing was that even though Hermione and Ginny needed support the most, Ellie found everyone looking out for her more. They seemed to anticipate her next drastic steps toward finding the out the truth about her father.

Meanwhile, school rules were becoming more and more strict. Dumbledore wouldn't let them go anywhere alone, or at all after hours. It felt like all the freedom was being sucked out of Hogwarts.

When New Years Eve came, Ellie didn't feel like she had much to look forward to. Would she have new romance this year? The only remotely obvious feelings she felt were towards Harry, surprisingly, which she doubted would ever work out. Of course, buried deep, deep down, there were the thoughts of Fred she wouldn't let herself think about; but because she wouldn't let herself think about them, they didn't reach the surface.

Everyone in Gryffindor celebrated that night in the common room, over several bottles of Butterbeer the school had supplied. Ginny was the only one who didn't seem happy, but again everyone seemed more preoccupied with watching out for an Ellie crisis.

"So?" Dean asked, looking around. "Resolutions, anyone?"

Everyone seemed to look at Ellie as if waiting for her to resolve not to be so obsessive. Was she imagining it?

"Ellie?" Dean asked her, a cold edge to her voice. "Anything about, I don't know, relationships?"

Everyone laughed at that—no one had really taken sides in their breakup, but Ellie had a feeling Dean had spread some unfair rumors about her. When they were going out he had said a lot about having to take care of her, which she hated the sound of. Ellie liked being able to take care of herself.

"Dean," she said, not bothering to go further.

"I'm just saying," he said, still not backing down. She wondered why; they had gotten along pretty well so far. "What, are you going to start going out with Oliver? He's a little old for you, isn't he?"

Oliver, who happened to be there, sounded amused. "I beg to differ."

"And what about—"

"Dean," Harry snapped. "Sod off."

Everyone was surprised at that.

"Okay," Ellie said, and sighed. "I have something. But it's not a resolution. It's an announcement." She smirked a little when everyone turned to look at her; Dean actually looked a little worried.

"Harry and Ron are treating me like a ticking time bomb. Even in the hospital wing Hermione's worried about 'what I'll do next.' Apparently Dean's decided to be a git to me, and Ol, you could put some ice on it every once in a while." She knew everyone was either guilty or angry with her, but she kept going. "And the professors aren't giving us any independence. So I'm writing a song. I'll play it…" She considered. "Today. No concert scheduled. Whoever wants to hear it can follow the music."

Everyone seemed both excited and confused. The twins looked eager to play with her.

"What's it called?" asked Ron.

"_Let Me Fall_."

* * *

She decided to play outside, in her and Fred's courtyard.

She wasn't sure Ginny would be able to play—she had disappeared earlier, and as usual, came back pale and white. But she was also insisting on playing. It would be mostly improv for her and the twins, but they didn't mind. They were backing Ellie, who was doing what she felt she had to do.

When they were ready, she pointed her wand to her throat and said the spell _Sonorus _like she did every time she played. She said it to the others and cleared her throat, hoping the freezing temperatures wouldn't affect her voice.

"This is about the people who try to take control of others," she said, and was amazed at how well her spell had worked; her voice was incredibly loud. There were already people running outside of the castle, probably those who had heard The Weasleys would be playing today. "Let us live. The name of this song is _Let Me Fall."_

And they began to play.

* * *

"_I feel chained, chained down— you shoved me to the ground.  
I can't run, I can't shout—just let me out._

_So heartless, this couldn't mean less; it's just a nod, not a warm embrace  
I'm only human, and I've got something to say…  
_  
_Let me rise, let me fall, let me breathe—  
I wanna lose control, I'm not afraid to lose it all.  
Let me break, let me crawl, 'cause I'll get back up again if you let me fall.  
_  
_If I burn down in this fire, well, I've got myself to blame.  
I can't stop, or give it up; I need to feel the pain._  
_Can you hear me? Don't come near me.  
You'll just get in my way; I'm only human,  
And there's nothing you can say.  
_  
_Let me rise, let me fall, let me breathe—  
I wanna lose control, I'm not afraid to lose it all.  
Let me break, let me crawl, 'cause I will get up again if you let me fall.  
_  
_You say you know who I am and what I'm about?  
Then you'll understand, I gotta figure it out  
And live my own life.  
_  
_Let me rise, let me fall, let me breathe—  
I wanna lose control, I'm not afraid to lose it all.  
Let me break, let me crawl, 'cause I will get up again if you let me fall—_

_You know I will get up again if you let me fall."_

* * *

She could tell the second she let her voice fade that they took her seriously now. Harry and Ron looked ashamed; Dean, too, clearly knew that the lyrics had to do with how he had treated her. But her favorite effect was what she had done to the professors. McGonagall looked like she understood exactly where Ellie was coming from; Sprout and Flitwick looked nostalgic. As hoped, Dumbledore looked like he was considering her cry for change, and as usual Snape just looked moody and angry.

"Thank you," she shouted over the applause. "Thanks."

"The after-party's in the Gryffindor common room," Fred added. "Sorry if you're not one of us."

A few people booed, but it was hardly audible over the cheers.

* * *

Even though the concert riled up students and got professors thinking, no changes were made. This was more frustrating to Ellie than to anyone else, but she tried not to show it. As school started back up, she noticed that her professors seemed pleased with her—at least, most of them. Snape was another story.

"Miss Bretherworth," he said one day in late January, "just because you are a pop star doesn't mean you are excused from proper potion brewing tactics. Five points from Gryffindor for your large ego."

Still, she, Ginny, and Fred and George were worshipped for quite some time after their concert. Ellie didn't mind the attention one way or other; in fact, by the time February came, she was getting to enjoy the surprisingly popular life. Even Cedric Diggory stopped her in the hallway several times to talk.

She could tell it was getting to her head, though, and she hated the thought of that. One day after being serenaded as usual by Oliver, she looked for Ginny and Hermione to have some much-needed girl time. She found Hermione, who was busy with homework, but couldn't find Ginny anywhere. She didn't want to worry Ron or the twins, so she fetched Harry to help her.

"I know you're tired of hearing it," she said, "but—"

He laughed. "Ellie, it's fine. You know I trust your judgment."

She smiled—honestly, she hadn't been sure that anyone did—and gratefully led him out through the portrait. They began to search the halls.

"So, have you written your mum yet?" he asked her as they walked.

She shook her head honestly. "I started to, but I didn't get past the _Dear. _I wasn't sure whether I should call her Mum or Serena."

He nodded understandingly. "Which do you _want _to call her?"

She had no intentions of lying. "I want to call her Mum," she admitted. "I want her to be my mother. But what can I do? I haven't gotten a letter from her in over a year. I haven't seen her in almost two."

"Then don't do it for her," he said, still looking for Ginny as they walked. "Do it for you, and for your dad. I know it's what you want. You deserve to know."

She stared thoughtfully at him for a second, then said, "Do you want to live with me this summer?" She knew it had shocked him; it had shocked her, too.

"You mean—at your house?" he asked, obviously still recovering from the blow.

She nodded. "Trust me, my mum wouldn't care. I mean, don't feel like you need to, but it could be fun—definitely better than your house. And the Weasleys don't want me at theirs this summer, so…"

He stared at her for a few more seconds, and then a smile broke out on his face. "Yeah, definitely," he said, laughing. "Wow, thanks, Ellie."

She nodded, feeling pretty happy herself, then looked around and frowned. "Why is there water all over the floor here?"

Harry glanced down the hall and groaned. "Moaning Myrtle," he said, and led her over to the bathroom, where they both heard the all-too-familiar wails.

"Myrtle," Ellie said, running over to her. "What's wrong?"

Myrtle didn't need any more prompting than that. She was off on a story about a young student who had been trying to flush a book down the toilet and hadn't managed; next the student had thrown the book at Myrtle.

"I'm so sorry," Ellie said, heart thumping. Had it been Ginny? "You don't deserve that at all, Myrtle. Maybe I can talk to this kid—did you see their face?"

Myrtle shook her head. "Not at all. They were gone when I looked up, and all they left behind was that wretched diary." She pointed to a puddle in the corner, and sure enough, in the puddle was a journal.

Harry went over to pick it up. It was simple and leather-bound, from what Ellie could see, with blank pages. Engraved on the front were the words TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE.

"We're going to, er, see if we can find out who insulted you," Harry said, taking Ellie's arm and leading her away. "Thanks, Myrtle."

She sniffed and nodded. Ellie and Harry went out the door.

"There's more to this journal than we think," Harry said. "Something about the name… I'm certain, Ellie. Do you think Ginny's the kid Myrtle was talking about?"

"Yeah, I do," Ellie replied, "but it could've been anyone."

He nodded. "That's what I thought. We'll have to find her, then. Do you reckon you'll be able to tell whether she's lying or not?"

"I hope so." Ellie sighed. "Look, let's just check back in the common room. If she's not there, I'll get the map from Fred and George. I didn't want them to worry, but if it's important, I should do it."

He nodded in agreement, and they headed tiredly back to the room. To Ellie's great relief, Ginny was in the corner, taking a swig of bottled water.

"Ginny!" Ellie shouted, running over to her friend and hugging her. "You're okay?"

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" She looked much better than usual.

"Uh," Ellie said, "I thought…" She sighed. "I have to talk to you. So does Harry. If you don't feel too awkward about it." She said this last part in a whisper, as Harry was waiting nearby.

Ginny blushed.

"Let's go up to your room," Ellie said to Harry, turning to face him. He nodded and led them up the stairs. All three of them took a seat on his bed. Ellie felt nervous, Harry seemed uncomfortable, and Ginny seemed confused.

"So, this is kind of weird," said Ellie, "but we couldn't find you all day, so we went to look for you, and we came across this ghost that said someone was acting really frantic and then threw something at her." Ellie stared straight into Ginny's eyes, but there was no hint of recognition—only misunderstanding.

"I was hanging out with Tess Brigham all day," Ginny said. "Ask her if you don't believe me. Honestly, El, why are you always being so weirdly protective of me?"

Ellie blushed, feeling guilty. "You're right—I was out of line. I've just been really on edge lately. You're not mad, are you?"

"No, of course not," Ginny said honestly. "Sorry, you just worried me when you brought me up here. Harry, were you worried about me too?" She sounded hopeful and flattered; Ellie felt an odd protective, almost territorial feeling kick in.

"Er, of course, Ginny," Harry said awkwardly.

Ginny gave a nervous, touched smile and left.

Ellie groaned and flopped onto her back. "I feel horrible. I know everyone else thinks I'm a nutcase, but I never believed them until now. Did you see how… _together _she was? There's nothing wrong with her."

He gave her a look. "You're not a nutcase, and anyway, they're too busy talking about me to bother with you." He grinned.

She laughed. "Well, that helps, I guess."

He smiled, resting partially propped up on his elbows and staring at the window. "You're not a nutcase," he said again. "I mean it. The way you worry about her is special, not crazy. You're a really good person."

She smiled, touched. "Thanks, Harry."

He looked up at her for a second, and she felt almost pierced by the intensity of his green eyes, even behind the glasses. They stared at each other in silence for several seconds, but he made no effort to do anything. She wasn't sure she was ready to.

"Hey, that diary," she said. "Let's take a closer look at it."

He nodded and broke eye contact to look around for the journal. He pulled it out and grabbed a quill, then carefully opened the journal.

"Try whatever you feel like writing," she said. "It's not like its owner will be wanting it back, from the sound of things."

He laughed in agreement and wrote the words MY NAME IS HARRY POTTER.

Ellie shrugged and nodded.

The ink faded and disappeared, causing both of them to gasp.

"What do—" Harry started, but Ellie put a finger to her lips to silence him. She pointed to the page, on which words were scribbling without someone there to write them.

HELLO, HARRY POTTER. MY NAME IS TOM RIDDLE.

Ellie's eyes widened, and she looked at Harry in disbelief. "So… the diary has a mind of its own?" she asked, not wrapping her mind completely around it.

"Apparently," he replied, dumbfounded.

"Well, ask it something only someone here would know," she said. "Like…"

"I've got it," he said, and began to scribble.

DO YOU KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS?

Ellie nodded. "Good question, but I doubt—"

But words were already interrupting her, and these surprised them even more; or rather, this single word. YES.

Harry wasted no time. CAN YOU TELL ME?

NO.

Ellie groaned, running a hand through her hair. "What, so the book's evil, or what?" But again it was interrupting her.

BUT I CAN SHOW YOU.

Harry shook his head, looking up at her. "I don't get it. Do you think it just turns into, like, a picture book?"

She shook her head. "I think magic's much more advanced than that. Look."

But neither of them even had time to read what it was now saying, because a strange vortex was coming out of the book and connecting it to Harry, who grabbed Ellie's hand to make sure she could come wherever he was going. Seconds later, they were warped _into _the book—at least, that was what it felt like.

They reappeared in an oddly familiar room, though Ellie couldn't remember where she had seen it before.

"This is Dumbledore's office," Harry whispered to her. "Only before Dumbledore—look."

Sure enough, there was an old man who was definitely not Dumbledore, sitting at the desk and filling out paperwork. "We must have gone back in time, whatever this is," she said. She wasn't worried that the headmaster could hear her; he didn't seem to be at all able to notice them.

A handsome boy walked in next, probably Oliver's age, with fair skin and dark hair. He looked frustrated. "Sir, please," the boy said. "I stay here every summer. Hogwarts is my home! You can't just abandon me when times get rough!"

"I'm afraid it is not my decision to make, Tom," said the headmaster. Ellie and Harry glanced at each other, assuming this Tom was the owner of the diary. "With the Chamber of Secrets open again, all the parents and Ministry board have said it is unsafe to keep any students here."

"But—I can't go back to the orphanage!" Tom said desperately.

The headmaster shook his head. "I am sorry, Tom," he said. "There is nothing I can do for you."

Tom sighed in frustration and left the office. Ellie glanced at Harry, not sure what to do. "Do we follow him?" she asked.

He considered, then said, "It's got to be more interesting than watching this guy do paperwork—let's go." They headed out the door and down the stairs behind Tom, having to walk at quite a speed to catch up with him. They stopped in the dungeons, which gave Ellie an uncomfortable feeling.

But it wasn't Snape or anyone of his type that they saw; instead, they had the pleasure of seeing a younger, nervous-looking Hagrid.

Ellie grinned at Harry, who also looked happy to see him.

"Rubeus," Tom greeted, sounding cold.

"'Lo, Tom," Hagrid greeted nervously, trying to conceal a large, locked box he was standing in front of. Even his large body couldn't hide it, though.

"I'm going to have to report you," Tom said calmly. "Rubeus, you're hiding the monster guilty for all these crimes. It's not right."

Hagrid shook his head fearfully. "Not him—it's not what you think, he's innocent, never hurt a fly!"

Tom shook his head and pulled out his wand. Ellie was starting to like him less and less. Tom cast open the box, and out jumped a giant, hairy spider that scuttled away. Ellie felt herself give a scream, and Harry too went stiff; the spider was at least the size of one of them.

Ellie wanted desperately to stay and talk to Hagrid, or even Tom, but she felt herself being spun back to normal time and normal Earth, and all she could do was close her eyes and take Harry's hand.

* * *

"Whoa," she said when they landed back on his bed.

Harry nodded in agreement. "Whoa."

She bit her lip. "You don't believe it, do you? I mean… _Hagrid_? He'd never hurt a fly. Whatever that thing was, I don't think it's the thing that was hurting people… or maybe…" But she had no ideas.

"How many huge, lethal monsters are there at one school, Ellie?" Harry asked doubtfully. "I don't want to believe it's Hagrid either, but look at the facts. Maybe we should ask the diary."

She shook her head. "I don't like it. If we talk to anyone, it should be Hagrid. Please."

He sighed and nodded. "All right, but if something happens…"

"I don't want to think about it," she said quietly, and again they linked eyes.

But then Dean and Seamus came in for the night, and Ellie tore her eyes away and headed downstairs.

* * *

The end! So personally, this wasn't one of my favorite chapters, with the random song and the awkward rewrite of the Tom Riddle scene. So, sorry if it wasn't that enjoyable. The next chapter is a major one though, one of my favorites (at least from their second year) so I promise I'll redeem myself with that!

Also just want to say thanks to my consistent reviewers. I feel like I know you guys! I smile when I see your names pop up on my notification emails. So, thanks : )

OH and one more thing. Just got a review wishing Ellie & Fred would be together and I am right there with you, but I should warn you, it's a very very slow process. Since I wrote the story through all 7 years (well almost; haven't finished yet), it's going to be a slow progression… but hang in there because it will be worth it!

As usual REVIEW for a speedy update!


	31. The Kiss

Hey guys, sorry for the delayed update, but the feedback died down and I wasn't really feeling the support... please keep it coming! I won't disappoint! There is still a long road ahead of this story and I will keep updating for those who want to read it, as long as they let me know.

**Chapter 13: The Kiss**

Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ellie, and the twins spent the next few weeks debating whether or not to talk to Hagrid. Ellie and Harry both wanted to, but neither of them were confident enough to do it without second opinions, and the twins, Ron, and Hermione were all against it.

Things slowly went back to normal, with two exceptions: one, Ellie had a nervous feeling in the pit of her stomach the whole time; and two, things with Ellie and Harry became very different. They shared their meaningful looks often, never addressing it directly but making every moment serious and important. She felt like she was growing a dependency for him, but in a different way than the twins. With George she felt the need to have him around for entertainment; with Fred, it was simply that she was inseparable from him and couldn't imagine life without him. But with Harry it was the intensity of those looks that always kept her wanting more. It was more real than anything she was used to.

And it didn't hurt that, for the first time in over a year, she didn't find herself trailing after Fred like a fan stalking a celebrity; she knew that was how she probably seemed to a lot of people.

Fred never confronted her about Harry, but he did notice certain things. On Valentine's Day, Ellie made no attempts to make things any different with Harry, though they hardly spent the day apart. But when Ginny left a valentine for him in his room, she immediately got stiff, the territorial feeling coming back, and later that day Fred kept his eyes on her, obviously wondering whether to tease her or not.

Life was also moving on by force; as the Mandrakes matured, Herbology turned into one party after another, everyone excited to get their friends back. In addition to that, everyone was picking their classes for the next year. Hermione had an impossible workload, Ron and Harry light ones, and Ellie a normal one.

Finally, the next Quidditch game was approaching, something they always looked forward to. It was against Hufflepuff, who Oliver considered the easiest opponents, but that didn't mean he took it less seriously. They were out all the time practicing, and Ellie loved it. It was her only real escape from the castle; the professors allowed students to go out whenever there was practice.

One day, as Ellie was walking back from practice with Harry, her feelings on Hagrid came back to her. She didn't know why, exactly, but he had been on her mind all day.

"Harry," she said.

"Yeah?"

"Can we please, _please_ talk to Hagrid? Just let me talk to him. He won't think it's a big deal if I approach it the right way. I can do it right, I swear."

Harry scratched his head, looking pained. "I don't know, Ellie. I mean, it's not like I can stop you if that's what you want, but I don't like it."

"Yes, you do!" she reminded him. "It's the others who don't like it. And they don't have to know. Just let me get a word in with Hagrid. I don't care if there haven't been any attacks—why wait around for one?"

He nodded. "I guess you're right. But you need to go about it carefully, okay? I mean it. Don't freak him out. It's probably a really rough story for him. I think he went to Azkaban and everything."

Ellie bit her lip. She hated thinking of that place.

But it did get her thinking about something that mattered. And with this kind of hope, she knew she'd be able to do it. "I'll talk to him tonight," she decided. "But first, I have a letter to write."

_Mum,_

_It was time I wrote to you. Do you know how long it's been? I lost track, but I know I haven't seen you in over a year. Almost two. I'm not going to start accusing you of being a bad mother, because I chose to come here, and I love it here. But you're all I've got, Mum. Everyone needs family._

_It's been a long time since you told me your version of what happened to Dad, and I get that you don't want to talk about it. But you need to get that I _need _to talk about it. Especially with you not around. I've heard a lot of stories that tell me what you said about him isn't true. For one thing, the day I was Sorted, the Hat told me my last name was 'not a name, but a disguise.' Then it told me Dad was in Gryffindor. When I fought Voldemort last year—yes, Mum, I fought what was left of Voldemort, with Harry Potter—he told me my father was worthless. And then there was Draco Malfoy, who insists that his father was and is a Death Eater, a servant of Voldemort, and that my dad never worked for Voldemort, that he's in Azkaban under false pretenses._

_What more proof than that do you want?_

_And why the hell wouldn't you tell me Snape is your brother? _

_And my cool powers like being an Animagus and that Perelli charm? Thanks to Dad too?_

_Please stop being a coward and reply to your own daughter._

_Ellie_

_PS- Harry's coming to live with us this summer._

She didn't show it to Harry, because she was a little ashamed of how mean it had turned out. But she had gotten everything out there, through her frustration, and honestly her mother deserved a wake-up call. The last letter she had written was harsh, but nothing like this.

She sealed it in an envelope and went out to the Owlery on her own, hoping she wouldn't get in trouble for walking by herself. She sent it out with Ringo and, on the way back, headed out to Hagrid's.

Her first impression wasn't good: he looked stressed, overworked, and cautious. These definitely weren't signs of innocence. But she had to remind herself she wasn't here to see whether he was innocent or guilty. She just wanted to get some facts.

He lit up a little when he saw her, a smile spreading on his face. "Ellie!" he greeted. "When's the las' time you visited me?"

She laughed. "Way too long ago. Sorry, Hagrid."

"'S no problem," he replied nicely. "Want to come in and have a spot o' tea?"

She smiled and nodded, following him into his hut and taking a seat. "Thanks," she said when he handed her a teacup and poured. "How have things been for you?"

He shrugged. "Decent, yeh know. Wish I had more tuh do. When yeh work less, yeh think more, an' I don' feel like thinkin' abou' anything serious."

She raised her eyebrows; this was almost an invitation. "You mean like what's going on at school? With the Chamber and all?" She hoped she wasn't going too fast.

"Yeh know, it's prob'ly scaring everyone," he said thoughtfully. "I'm no exception, tha's for sure."

She nodded, trying to find a good way to approach it. "You mean, because you were there the first time?" she asked casually.

His eyes widened. "Yeh know abou' that?"

She sighed and gently put her hand on his, hoping it would comfort him; it seemed to, a little. "I'm not here to point fingers, or accuse you of anything," she promised. "And I came on my own. But I really want to talk to you about this."

He looked nervous. "I don't know if I should, Ellie."

She bit her lip. "Look, I'll tell you the truth. Harry and I looked into the memory of a guy named Tom Riddle, and we saw him accusing you. And we saw your… _pet. _Now, neither of us think you did anything wrong, but… I really want to know what happened."

He sighed and put on another kettle. "All righ'. That year, I did have a pet. Yeh saw him. He couldn't live in the wild, so I raised 'im meself. A lo' of bad things started happenin', but they had nothing to do with Aragog. I swear it."

She laughed—of course he had named his spider.

"I mean it. I was there with him at most o' the attacks. If not, he was locked away. It wouldn't o' been possible."

She nodded, understanding his point.

"Anyway, then they locked me up. Aragog lives in the forest now—he escaped back then. Dumbledore got me outta there, Azkaban, but not soon enough. Tha' was the worst time of my life."

Ellie tried not to listen to him at that point. She didn't want to hear about the torturous life in Azkaban. "I knew you wouldn't do it," she said. "Thanks for clearing it up." She stood and gave him a short hug.

"Come by for a normal visit sometime," he said when she headed for the door.

She smiled. "Definitely," she said, and waved good-bye.

She had to get some sleep for the Quidditch game the next day.

* * *

"I believe him," Ellie said later that night.

Harry nodded. "I do, too—at least, I want to. But he did say that thing's still alive, and that it's here. Maybe it's working without him, or maybe he loves it too much to put it in danger by telling you."

She sighed. "I get what you're saying. It just doesn't seem right. I guess we should just wait and do something next time there's an attack, like you said before." She didn't like it, but what could she do?

"Meanwhile, we should get some sleep," he said. "Going to need lots of energy tomorrow."

She smiled; talking to him, she had almost forgotten about the game. "Yeah," she said, "I'll go sleep. See you in the morning, then?"

He nodded, and they split up. Ellie went upstairs to her dorm, hoping she wouldn't have to explain her long absence to Hermione. Luckily Hermione was asleep.

Ellie didn't sleep much that night, but for some reason, she didn't want to meet Fred in the common room. It wasn't like they had an agreement to do it every night; most of the nights they met happened when she glowed him, not the other way around.

She waited for a bit to see if he would glow her, but he didn't. She wondered why she was so against glowing him. It had something to do with Harry, she knew.

So instead she went to bed.

Hermione, Lavender, and Parvati were all up when she got up; she had slept in for a change. They all squealed good luck to her, and she quickly changed and came downstairs. The twins were waiting for her for breakfast, but she had them wait with her for Harry so they could go over some things before the game.

As usual, Harry ate nothing at breakfast. Ellie had a little cereal, and the twins had tons. They didn't go over as much as they expected, mostly because of jitters.

"It's just Hufflepuff," Ellie reminded them with a grin as breakfast came to a close. "When have they ever won anything?"

George groaned. "They won the year before you got here."

"Shh," Fred whispered. Ellie and Harry both laughed.

"So, back to the dorms and then off to the game?" Ellie asked. "Got to change into our lovely Quidditch attire."

The four of them headed back to the Gryffindor dorms. When Ellie came downstairs in her outfit, the twins were waiting, but Harry wasn't.

"Busy being a pretty boy, or something?" she asked, and when they shrugged, she headed up the boys' stairs. "Harry?" she shouted. "Harry?"

"Ellie!" He sounded worried and angry. "C'mere!"

She came into his room and gasped. His trunk, bed, and floor around it were covered in scattered disarray of his books, clothes, and belongings. "Was someone looking for something?"

"Something they found," he replied grimly. "The diary."

Her eyes widened. "Wait, really? Who could it have been?"

"Probably the same person who got rid of it," he replied. "Look, we've got to get out there soon. Let's just worry about it when—" But he stopped.

"What?"

He wordlessly ran out the door and down the stairs. Ellie followed in annoyance and curiosity.

"_What_?" she demanded again when they were back in the common room. Fred and George looked confused. Hermione and Ron, who had been here since breakfast, came over to them, looking worried.

"I hear it again," Harry said. "That thing… I think it's going to attack again. The hissing…"

Hermione gasped.

"What?" Ellie demanded, but Hermione shook her head and started to run away.

"_What_?" Ellie asked again, since it seemed to work with Harry.

"Idea," Hermione explained shortly. "Library. I'll see you guys at the game, okay?" And she ran out of the portrait and off to the library.

"So," Ellie said, turning back to Harry and the twins. "Field?"

They laughed and followed her out to the Quidditch field, where they met Oliver and the rest of the team and headed into the Gryffindor waiting area for the pep talk.

"Glad you could make it," Oliver said sarcastically when the four of them arrived. Angelina and Katie sent them all glares; obviously they had had to deal with all of Oliver's nerves themselves.

"Sorry, somebody raided Harry's personal things and robbed him," Ellie explained cheerfully.

Oliver couldn't help but laugh. "As excuses go, that one doesn't suck," he admitted. "So, is everyone ready? For some reason they told us it'd be postponed a few minutes and to wait here, but judging that you're already late, we could probably get going."

The twins rolled their eyes, and Ellie and Harry laughed. Angelina and Katie stood, and they all followed Oliver outside to the field. The Slytherins were already out there, but they weren't in position; they were looking furious. McGonagall was speaking with Flint, their captain.

"Professor," Oliver said to McGonagall. "What's wrong?"

"Everyone, this Quidditch game has been canceled," she shouted. "Students, please follow your Head Boy and Head Girl back to your dormitories; professors will oversee everything."

"What's happened?" Fred asked.

"There's been another attack," she replied sadly. The Slytherins walked away, some actually snickering, but the Gryffindors all stayed.

"Who?" Ellie demanded.

"You lot," McGonagall said, "are no exception to my orders. Everyone except Potter and Weasley may be released." She sighed. "And you, Elena."

Ellie raised her eyebrows, not sure whether it was good or bad. Oliver gave her a curious but encouraging look, and the twins shrugged and waved good-bye to her. Once they were a safe distance away, McGonagall explained herself.

"It's Miss Granger."

Ellie stared at McGonagall with her mouth parted, not daring to speak. Harry stiffened, staying just as still. Ron was the only one who reacted.

"She's in the hospital wing?" he practically yelped. "Now? She's just petrified, right?"

"Yes, she and Miss Clearwater were luckily only petrified, and they are both in the hospital wing. They're not allowed visitors, but—"

"_What_?" Ron shouted.

McGonagall would've laughed if it was at all appropriate. Instead she said calmly, "You three, of course, are free to meet her. I've already informed Madame Pomfrey."

Ron nodded, glanced at Ellie and Harry, and spun out, running toward the castle faster than either of them had expected. Ellie and Harry stood rooted to the ground. McGonagall nodded at them and walked toward her office on the other side. Ellie slowly turned to look at Harry.

"I always wondered," he said quietly. "In the back of my mind. Whether she'd be…" He grimaced. "Next."

Ellie felt a choke at the back of her throat. "She's just petrified," she said quietly. But she couldn't believe it, either. She felt like she was in a trance. Hermione had always seemed so invincible.

He nodded and stared at her, something she hadn't seen before in his eyes: true, experienced, unconditional pain. She hadn't seen it before.

She expected him to look away, to make no move, but instead he gently took her hand. It was such a surprise that she almost was pulled out of the daze she was in, but he simply began to walk, and as she relaxed into it, she settled to really enjoy the pleasant comfort in it. She and Dean had never even held hands, and here she was with Harry, who wasn't even her boyfriend.

She wondered if either of them would be able to deny their connection after this.

It was a long, slow walk. Neither of them said anything; it should have been the epitome of awkward, but instead it felt like a huge comfort. She didn't mind the slowness of the walk, anyway, because it meant she wouldn't have to see Hermione's frail, frozen body quite as soon.

But they got there eventually. Ron was kneeling down, whispering something into her ear. Ellie stood with Harry a few feet away, heart going out to Ron at the sight. Harry gave her hand a gentle squeeze, and she rested her head on his shoulder.

Ron didn't look up for some time, but he looked surprised when he did. "Did you guys hear me?"

Ellie shook her head.

He nodded. "Okay. Well, come on, then. Madame Pomfrey said she might be able to hear us."

Ellie followed Harry over to Hermione's cot, gently releasing his hand so they could each stand on one side of her. "Hey, 'Mione," she greeted softly. "How're you doing?"

Hermione's face seemed more beautiful than she had been when awake. Ellie wondered if it was appreciation for her friend or that she had never paid attention before.

"We'll get you out of here in no time," Harry said to Hermione, resting his hand on her arm for a moment. "And then we're never letting you to the library on your own again."

Ellie laughed a little. She felt desperate to cry, but she couldn't remember the last time she had cried, and she knew today wouldn't be the day.

Ron came back over to them. "We should talk to Hagrid tonight," he said.

Ellie glanced at Harry. Now wasn't the time to tell Ron she already had, and anyway, she did still want a word with Hagrid to make sure he was keeping up with his spider.

"Do you want some time with her?" Harry asked Ron the way only a best friend could.

Ron nodded his head a fraction of an inch, and Harry nodded and left him with Hermione. "Want to go somewhere?" he asked Ellie. She nodded and followed him out of the hospital wing.

They didn't have to walk far before they reached the doorway to the Charms courtyard, a small, nicely decorated place Flitwick had designed himself. Ellie sat down on a bench, and Harry sat next to her.

"Surreal," she muttered, letting her hair out of its ponytail and leaning on the back wall.

He nodded. "It is. I wonder what Hagrid will say."

"He would've never hurt Hermione, though," she said. "If his spider thing did it, it wasn't on his command."

Harry nodded. "Of course not," he said, sounding like he was trying to convince himself, too. "But we should still talk to him."

"Yeah." She sighed and looked at him. "We should."

The pain in his eyes was back, but also something else: desire. For the first time in her life, she saw the first honest, unhidden, true desire in a boy's eyes that was clearly for her. Dean had never looked at her that way; he'd had a little crush. Oliver looked at her with an eager attraction, more physical than emotional; he did desire her, but not this way. Not this way that made her feel like she was the only girl in the world.

"Harry," she said quietly. She wasn't going to do this again, share the most meaningful look she had ever felt and then pretend it hadn't happened.

He nodded. "I know," he said just as softly.

And still she stared, unable to look away.

And then, suddenly, passionately, he kissed her. He ran his hand through her hair behind her ear, pressed his lips deeply against hers, and they joined the first real kiss Ellie had ever experienced. This meant much more than her two kisses with Oliver. This one was real.

They kissed for almost a minute, not for the pleasure as much as for the comfort; they could be mourning everyone in the world, and this would help. She came closer to him as they kissed, and she liked it that close to him; he was her consolation from everything else.

They pulled away mutually, and carefully Ellie stood. She didn't smile at him, but she gave him the same look she always did, and then she walked away, not wanting to do anything to alter the beauty of what had happened.

* * *

She didn't know what Harry was thinking, because she didn't have the heart to go down to the common room. She couldn't explain it, exactly; it was almost like the intensity of what had happened was scary and intimidating to her. She wasn't sure if she could handle it.

She knew she would face him tonight, though. Even if he didn't feel the same way she did, even if he wanted to forget it had ever happened, she wanted to talk to Hagrid for Hermione, and for the truth.

She avoided everyone, catching up on some homework and listening to some music, not even going to dinner. Then, when it was dark, she headed down to the common room. She knew they hadn't planned on going until then, anyway; they were going to use Harry's Invisibility Cloak.

He and Ron both looked up when she came downstairs. She had dressed up a bit for Harry, she had to admit: she'd combed out her hair, pulled on a flattering black tunic and a nice leather jacket with a pair of light wash jeans. She knew she looked like a Muggle, but she was too tired for robes.

She wasn't sure whether they had been talking about her or not, but Ron went over to talk to Neville briefly, which left Ellie with Harry.

"Hey," he greeted.

She replied with a nod, and cleared her throat. "Harry…"

But he interrupted with the same gentle voice he had been using with her. "Ellie, you don't have to explain yourself. I know you have a lot going on, and if you don't feel the same way I do, I don't want you to stress about it."

She flicked a strand of her hair aside, heart pounding. "What is it?" she asked. "The way you feel?"

He didn't hesitate; he was surprisingly brave to speak his mind. "Like that kiss was the best thing I've ever experienced."

Her heart stopped beating so fast and slowed to a happy pace. "Then I'm pretty sure we feel the same way."

A smile broke out on his face. "Really?"

She nodded. "Such a good kiss, I think we should try it again." This time she kissed him, standing on her toes a little and putting an arm around his neck. They didn't do as much as they had the first time, because they were in a common room full of people, but they did enough to return that feeling of comfort and exhilaration back to her.

"Okay, lovers, ready to go?" Ron asked, walking back over to them as they pulled apart. He still seemed upset about Hermione, which was understandable.

"Yeah," said Harry. "Let's do it."

And they ducked under the cloak and out to Hagrid's.

* * *

The end! So, my throat is killing me and I am about to go to bed, so I'll just say it once and simply: if you want an update, please review. That's all it takes! There are hundreds of pages of this story sitting on my computer waiting to be uploaded. I just want to make sure people still want to read it. : )

So, review!


	32. On Edge

Thank you guys so much for the reviews! Glad to know people are still interested and enjoying it : ) Keep 'em coming and I'll keep the chapters coming!

**Chapter 14: On Edge**

It was fun, sneaking out of school in the invisibility cloak with the boys. It felt like, as Ron put it, 'they were up to just as much no good as last year.' Ellie only laughed, but in a way she did agree.

It was cold and dark, but they were able to make their way to Hagrid's easily enough. They knocked nervously, and were all shocked when he flung open the door with a crossbow pointed at them. Luckily he seemed to expect it was them when he saw no one, and he carefully lowered the crossbow.

"Tha' you, 'Arry?" he asked.

Harry pulled off the cloak, and Hagrid chuckled at seeing the other two. "C'min, but yeh know yeh're not supposed ter be here."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, but we are. Did you hear about Hermione?"

Hagrid nodded, going pale. "Yeah, I did." He shook his head. "I can' believe it."

"Hagrid," Ellie said quietly, and pulled the half-giant aside as Harry and Ron stepped in. "I didn't tell Ron that I talked to you about… you know," she said quietly. "So he might ask you a few accusing-sounding questions."

Hagrid nodded, looking confused but understanding what she was asking of him. "I can explain myself twice, Ellie," he assured her. "Jus' wish I didn' have to."

She nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. But we're really worried. This isn't just anyone now—it's _Hermione._"

"Having a private conversation?" Ron asked, coming over to them. Ellie was willing to forgive him; she knew he was only being rude because he was so worried about Hermione.

"Ron, I know why yeh're here," Hagrid said with a sigh. "But I didn' ever help with any of this Chamber o' Secrets business. My pet, the one Riddle thought was the dangerous thing, it… it was jus' a harmless spider! Aragog!"

Ron raised his eyebrows.

"I believe him," Ellie said quietly, for the millionth time.

"I do, too," Harry said. "We're just looking for answers."

"I don' have any!" Hagrid said, sounding annoyed. Ellie glared at Harry and Ron to stop assaulting him, and they nodded, obviously succumbing.

They stood in silence for a few seconds, when more knocking sounded on Hagrid's door. His eyes widened and he glanced around, then sighed. "Hide under the cloak, then," he said, and grabbed the crossbow before opening the door.

Dumbledore was the first to enter, looking dreadfully serious, followed by an older, well-dressed, odd-looking man. Ron half-gasped and whispered, "That's Cornelius Fudge—the Minister of Magic!"

"Good evening, Rubeus," said Dumbledore.

Hagrid practically collapsed into a chair and glanced up at the two men, white and sweaty.

"Bad business, Hagrid," said Fudge. "Very bad business. Had to come. Four attacks on Muggle-borns. Things've gone far enough. Ministry's got to act."

"But it wasn' me!" Hagrid insisted, the same way he had with Ellie. "I never—Professor Dumbledore, sir, I never—"

Dumbledore turned to Fudge. "I want it understood, Cornelius, that Hagrid has my full confidence."

But Fudge wasn't listening. He said something about how Hagrid's record was against him and that the Ministry needed to do something. Dumbledore insisted that taking Dumbledore would not help with the attacks, but Fudge said it was necessary, and if someone else was caught he would be sent back with a full apology.

But Ellie knew where they were talking about, and she knew an apology wouldn't fix being sent there.

Obviously Hagrid was thinking it too. "Not Azkaban?"

But he was interrupted by another knock on the door, which Dumbledore answered. Ellie's heart rapped inside of her chest with anger when she saw Lucius Malfoy. It also pounded with an intense desire to learn more about her father, as he knew it all. But she felt Harry take her hand, and she knew he was telling her that wasn't the way to go about it. He was right.

"Get outta my house!" Hagrid shouted.

"Tell him, Hagrid," Ellie whispered. Ron snickered quietly, and Harry glared at them both to shut them up. They went back to watching Lucius insult Hagrid, then move on to explaining he was here for Dumbledore.

"Dreadful, but the governors feel it's time for you to step aside," Lucius said. He tried justifying himself, but of course it came out only as smug.

"No," Fudge said quickly, "Lucius, we can't have Dumbledore suspended—"

But Lucius explained calmly that it was a matter for the governors to decide.

The fighting went on when Hagrid accused Lucius of blackmailing and Lucius shot back with teases about Azkaban. Somewhere amidst this they heard Dumbledore agree to step aside, and whatever Ellie felt toward him about Ginny didn't matter then, because she couldn't imagine a Hogwarts without Dumbledore. It didn't seem real.

And then he said something she would never forget.

"You will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me." As if these weren't enough, he added, "You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it."

Harry's grip on Ellie's hand tightened.

Dumbledore and Lucius headed outside. Fudge waited for Hagrid to come, but first Hagrid had words to say. "If anyone wanted ter find out some _stuff, _all they'd have ter do would be ter follow the _spiders. _That'd lead 'em right! That's all I'm sayin'."

Fudge didn't seem to have the slightest comprehension of what he was saying. "Hagrid," he said, "please don't stall. You know this is what…"

There was something in Hagrid's expression that Ellie couldn't bring herself to accept. It was a kind of recognizing, fearful pain she wanted to cry over; she couldn't believe the torture he would be put through. And what if they didn't catch the real Heir? Would he be stuck in Azkaban forever?

That was the only way to explain what she did next: she transformed.

And once she did, she jumped out from the cloak and jumped straight onto Cornelius Fudge, knocking him to the ground. Then she grabbed Hagrid's coat with her teeth and pulled him outside, back into the forest, knowing it was crazy but not giving up. Lucius and Dumbledore didn't hear her, and Fudge would be on the ground for at least a minute or two—her attack had been pretty sharp. When they were deeply into the forest, Hagrid stopped for a breather, and she transformed.

"_Ellie_?" he asked in amazement. "How—how—_how_?"

"Don't really know," she admitted. "Something to do with my dad. Same with that shield I have. Listen, if you go in that direction—" She pointed to a certain direction on the Marauder's Map "—then, not too far, you'll get to an empty road. Cross it and walk straight, and soon you'll come to the back end of Hogsmeade. Do you think you'll be safe there?"

He nodded. "I'm a fugitive now, I s'pose, but I've got some friends at Hogsmeade."

She smiled. "Okay. I should be getting back."

"Ellie," he said. "That was the nicest thing anyone's done fer me. I couldn' go back there—you have no idea—thank you."

She smiled and nodded at him before turning and transforming back.

* * *

When Ellie got back to the common room after rescuing Hagrid, she expected Harry and Ron to be in bed for the night; instead, Harry was pacing the common room like a man on a mission.

"Harry?" she asked, confused. "You oka—"

"Ellie!" he shouted, running up to her and hugging her. His voice was a strained mixture of hostility and relief. "I thought… I thought… I don't know, you could be in Azkaban right now!"

She laughed. "How are they going to arrest a dog?" she asked doubtfully. "Come on, now."

"You never know," he said. "Aren't there spells that turn Animagus animals back into humans? Aren't there detectors that tell when an animal isn't really an animal? Aren't—"

"Harry," she interrupted. "I'm fine." She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Fred was in the room, watching them. He hadn't even known that she was going to visit Hagrid, let alone that she and Harry—

"But you risked so much," he said, shaking his head. "For Hagrid."

"If you had to risk everything for someone," she countered, "wouldn't it be someone like Hagrid? He's like a second father to me, Harry. Or a _first_, since I'm lacking in that department…" She sighed when she saw his impatient expression. "Harry, what's the point in having these special powers of mine if I can't put them to good use? I know what a terrible place Azkaban is. It haunts me and I haven't even been there."

She could tell by his expression that he knew what she was referring to: her real father.

"Come here," he said gently, spreading his arms, and she gladly embraced him, suddenly overcome by how much she _needed _a hug. "I'm glad you're okay," he told her softly.

"Thanks," she said into his shoulder, but she pulled away, reminded of a certain painful reality she would have to deal with sooner or later. "Listen, Harry—we need to talk."

He raised his eyebrows. "Already?"

She grinned slightly. "Trust me, I'm not dumping you," she told him, so certainly she seemed to be making fun of the mere thought. "We need to talk about… what we're saying. I know there are rumors about us for now—we did kiss the other day in front of everyone—but we haven't…"

He nodded. "Made it official."

"Do you want to?" she asked.

"You know I do," he said surprisingly boldly. "Don't you?"

"I do," she said quickly. "But there's someone I need to tell before we tell everyone else." She glanced at him, wondering if he already knew; he did.

"Fred," he assumed.

She nodded slowly. Fred hadn't been there the day they had kissed. He didn't know.

"Okay," he said surprisingly rationally. "You're right. He should be the first to know."

She smiled, thanking her lucky stars this was going so well for her and praying it would continue to go this well. It was already miles of a step up from her experience with Dean. Kissing Harry on the cheek, she turned to face Fred. She felt her face flushing and her heart pounding as she walked over to him, feeling like there was a huge spotlight on her. Why was this so hard for her? Was she just afraid that he would be upset, like he was with Dean? Why did she feel like she was betraying him—betraying _them_?

"Hey," he said to her when she reached him. His face was traced with concern. "Are you okay? You looked a little pale when you came in, and Harry was kind of freaking out before hand."

"Yeah," she said. "We just…" She sighed. She didn't even want to tell the Hagrid story; she decided to make it fast. "We went to talk to Hagrid about Hermione, but Fudge came to arrest him, so I changed into a dog and helped him escape, so Harry was worried I got caught, but I didn't."

Fred stared at her for a second, then laughed out loud. "Only you," he said, shaking his head. "I'm proud of you, girl. Glad you're okay."

She smiled slightly, but shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

"Should I take that back?" he asked, frowning. "You don't seem okay."

"I need…" She cleared her throat. Somehow she was at a total loss for words; she couldn't even find a way to speak. Her mind was racing. Why was this so hard? "I need to tell you something."

He waited.

"I'm… with… Harry now," she stammered, unable to look him in the eyes.

Sentence safely behind her, she forced herself to look at him, but now it was him who wasn't looking away. His expression was unreadable. When he finally did bring his eyes to hers, he said one thing:

"Oh."

A little bit of her heart broke with that "oh."

"I just… I wanted you to know, first," she said. "And Fred, please, please, _please _don't stop being my friend again, or start thinking I value him more than you, because seriously, like, you're the most important person to me _ever, _Fred, I don't know what I'd do without—"

"Relax," he said, laughing slightly, even though his eyes weren't laughing. Still, he didn't seem upset with her. He just seemed quiet. "I'm not going to pull that crap with you again. I was out of line. I know that."

"So we're okay?" she asked, lighting up.

He smiled. "Of course we are," he told her. "I've got your back, El. Always."

She was fairly certain she was about to cry; it was all she could do not to jump into his arms and hug him so tightly, he burst. As it was, she still hugged him, just not quite so tightly.

"I'm so glad," she told him. "And if you ever feel uncomfortable, or hurt, or anything—"

"You'll be the first to know," he promised, "and not via cold shoulder and passive aggressiveness."

She smiled. "Thanks," she said softly, exhaling for what felt like the first time in hours. "And… Fred?"

"Yes, El?" A bit of mischief shone through his eyes; he seemed to be coming to terms with things.

She wasn't sure she should ask what she was about to ask, but she did, anyway. "Do you approve?"

He glanced over at Harry, who was not-so-subtly watching them. Then he glanced back at Ellie fondly. "No man's good enough for you," he informed her. "But I'd take Scarhead over Dean and Oliver, any day of the week. Now, if you and he break up and you come to me asking me to accept that you and Ollie are—"

"Oh, my God," she groaned, shaking her head, and she walked away—but not without giving him a swift kick on the butt, just like old times.

* * *

It was flawless, she figured out over the next few days, her rescue of Hagrid. The only thing Fudge had reported was that a white dog had attacked him and pulled Hagrid away. He had suggested it was an Animagus, but also said it could have been one of Hagrid's pets. There was a warrant out for Hagrid's arrest. Ellie found it ridiculous.

But no one knew who the dog was, and no one had caught Ellie, Harry, or Ron. Hagrid was still safely away from Azkaban. Everything had worked.

She wished she could've gotten Dumbledore to stay, though. Fear was spreading with him gone. Even though it was getting sunny and beautiful, March coming to April, no one could properly enjoy it.

Harry was strung up on Dumbledore's final words, especially about help being given to those who asked for it. Ellie was stuck on who the real Heir could be. Ron was busy being furious with Madame Pomfrey, who out of fear had closed the hospital wing off to visitors.

It was one day in Herbology that a few interesting things happened. Ellie was partnered up with Harry, which Ron didn't even have the energy to be angry about; Ellie had stuck Ron with Lavender, who had been begging her for the chance anyway.

Harry was still down for a number of reasons, one of which being that a lot of the people in his class and Hogwarts still either feared or hated him. Ernie Macmillan, especially, seemed to be looking at him a lot this period. Ellie wanted to give Ernie a nice insult, but the only ones she could think of were insults about Hufflepuff, and not only were there a lot of other Hufflepuffs in the class, Sprout was their head.

But instead of glaring at him, Ernie came over to Harry. "Er," he greeted uncertainly. "Harry, all right?"

"Hey, Ernie," Harry replied, not looking up, obviously expecting to be insulted.

"I just want to say…" Ernie didn't seem comfortable apologizing, if that was what he was doing, but he also didn't seem to like guilt. "I'm sorry for suspecting you, you know, about attacking everyone. I know you would never hurt Hermione, so I was wrong."

Harry looked up in surprise. Ellie smiled.

"That's okay, Ernie," Harry managed. "Thanks for apologizing."

Ernie nodded. "Oh—and congratulations. You know—about Ellie."

Ellie and Harry exchanged an amused look; Ernie smiled sheepishly as he walked away.

With Ernie safely gone, Ellie let out a bit of a squeal and hugged Harry, who seemed just as happy with what had just happened. Finally some fairness seemed to be restored; he was no longer being blamed.

"Maybe other people realize it, too," Ellie said when they pulled away. "That you would never attack Hermione, so the Heir couldn't be you."

"Let's hope," he agreed, and went back to his Mandrake.

Only minutes later, Ron came over to them, leaving a sad-looking Lavender at their Mandrake. "Guys," he said, and pointed to a line of spiders moving toward the Forbidden Forest. "Look."

"The spiders!" Ellie gasped. "Should we follow them?"

"Can't, right now, in broad daylight," Harry said. "Soon?"

Ron shook his head quickly. "I was just pointing them out. I didn't say I wanted to follow them. Or that I believed any of what Hagrid said."

Ellie glared at him.

"Okay, I believe Hagrid. But I don't like spiders."

* * *

Their next class was Lockhart's, which would probably put a damper on the somewhat good day they had had otherwise—at least, the Ernie part was good. The guilt-ridden Ellie, miserable Ron, and obsessively over-thinking Harry weren't quite so happy in general.

"Good afternoon, class!" Lockhart chirped when they took their seats. "Now, today will be a book work day, but I promise to have something else exciting before the year is up."

"Else?" Ellie muttered to Harry. "We haven't had anything so far."

"Well, it _has _been exciting," he whispered back with a grin. "Maybe not in a good way."

Even Ron had to laugh a little. The three of them sat at a table and pulled out their Defense books, glad to be doing book work if it meant less talking from Lockhart.

But they didn't get their wish anyway.

One of the girls in the class, a Slytherin—one of the few girls who hadn't realized what a fraud Lockhart was yet—was asking him about the safety of the school with Dumbledore gone. She sounded smug, like she had been talking to Draco too much.

"Oh, I'm not sure," Lockhart replied, "to be honest. Professor Dumbledore probably did have a safer handle on how many students were harmed. But he really isn't the issue—it's that Hagrid."

Ellie and Harry's eyes both shot up.

"Now, if the Ministry had been able to catch him, I of course would say that the school is safe now. Hagrid, of course, was the reason for the attacks. But he had someone to help him, and now he's escaped. So the safety of our school remains a mystery."

"That's not true!" Ellie shouted, but Ron glared at her, silencing her to be quiet. He had a point; what better way to sell herself for what she had done than to defend Hagrid when the Ministry was after him?

"Sorry, Professor," she muttered, and Lockhart smiled pleasantly, obviously not minding, as long as she had apologized.

"God," she muttered, turning to look at the boys. "Let's follow the spiders tonight. _Please._"

Harry nodded in agreement, but Ron looked unconvinced.

"Ron," Harry whispered, and pointed with his pen to the empty seat next to Ron. "Remember why we're doing this. To figure out the mysteries of the Chamber. To find out who did this to her."

The empty seat was Hermione's.

"Okay," Ron said. "Tonight."

* * *

"You're up to something," George said that night at dinner. Ellie had decided to sit with the twins instead of Harry for several reasons. For one thing, she was determined to prove to Fred that she wasn't going to put her relationship with Harry before her friendship with Fred. But for another, she and Harry weren't as forcibly attached as she and Dean had been. That was an uncomfortable, mechanical attachment; her relationship with Harry was strong enough not to need the extra cushion of always being around each other.

"I am not," she said in her defense, admittedly lamely.

"El," said Fred, and laughed. "You're a horrible liar, don't you know that by now? Give it up. Something Harry and Ron-related?"

"Sort of," she admitted. "And Fred, no following me tonight, okay? Just because I gave you that arrow locket thing doesn't mean you always have to use it."

"Doesn't mean I shouldn't, either," he said cheerfully. "So you can either tell me now or I'll just follow you." He gave her cheerful smile.

"Okay," she said, and prayed that he had his younger brother's phobia of spiders. "We're following a bunch of little spiders to their nest, where their huge father spider resides, I'm guessing, and apparently this will unleash the truth of the Chamber."

"Whoa," George said. "Take my name off the sign-up sheet."

"Really?" asked Fred.

George nodded. "I wasn't too big on this, anyway. Last year, with the Sorcerer's Stone, that was just too intense for me. I'll sit this one out. I don't like spiders, anyway."

"Well, I'm in," Fred said certainly. "Maybe George can stay and look after Ginny."

Ellie raised her eyebrows. "Ginny's fine, isn't she?"

"She's been acting as weird and freaked-out as ever," George replied, nodding down the table a little to Ginny, who was eating by herself, jittery and fearful-looking."

"Okay," Ellie said, "am I crazy or not? Because she acted like I was crazy when I thought something was wrong."

"I'll look after her," George promised.

Ellie sighed, eyes still on Ginny, not sure what to say.

* * *

The end! So the next chapter, they are following the spiders! If you want a nice speedy update again, REVIEW! Thanks guys. : )


	33. Follow the Spiders

Hey guys! Sorry for the slow-ish update - it was not a comment on your reviews, which have still been strong! I went to Florida for my college orientation and have been busy with work. But now I am back and less busy, which means speedy updates, assuming I keep getting encouraging reviews! Thanks everyone, and enjoy!

**Chapter 15: Follow the Spiders**

_Elena,_

_I know exactly how long it's been since you wrote to me. It's been seventeen months. The last time you wrote me was on your twelfth birthday. I'm sorry that I didn't reply. But you made that decision for me the day you left for Hogwarts, and you know that. I'm not the mother of a witch. I'm not abandoning you or purposefully hurting you. But I refuse to be a mother who sends her daughter off to her death. That's where you're headed. So this is the last letter I'll send you._

_You want to come home this summer? Fine. Bring Harry if you want. Honestly I'm not comfortable with you bringing a boy home, but if I haven't been a mother to you until now, it's not fair of me to start. So feel free to. I'll be at work over the summer, so you'll be alone. I'm sure you'll understand._

_Yes, your father was an Animagus and, in last attempts to protect you, made you one. He also spent months and months working on your Perelli charm, again to protect you. As you could imagine, he was a very powerful wizard. But it doesn't matter now._

_But you want to know about your father's past. You always did—and now that you're learning things, you expect me to tell you the rest. The truth is, I know almost as little as you. I know his identity, which you don't know, and which I can't tell you. If I tell you, you'll go looking for him, and Ellie, it's not something I'm going to help with, even if I'm not being a mother to you any more. His life is over. Azkaban is a fate worse than death, and I'm sorry, but you had to hear it. But I will tell you this: Your father went to Hogwarts with me. He was a few years above me. We met again when he visited in my last year, and as you could gather, we had a fling. I didn't love him. He raised you for over a year, as I was in school and couldn't. And then he was arrested for something horrible. I always believed it to be true. Maybe the stories you tell me you heard mean otherwise, but I refuse to think about it any more. The life of magic isn't for me, Ellie. I'm not doing this to myself. I'm finished with it._

_I'm sorry that I couldn't be of more help to you. But I refuse to watch another family member be torn apart by this world. You're doing this to yourself. I'm not helping you after this—not while you're a witch._

_Serena_

It should have made Ellie furious, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. Ringo dropped it off to her after dinner, and instead of getting worked up about it, she put it in a drawer and decided to deal with it later.

Finally it was dark, and Ellie went downstairs to meet the others. Ron and Fred were still upstairs, but Harry was pacing in the common room, waiting for them. He didn't see when she approached, so she gently touched his arm.

He turned to look at her, and she caught his expression: fear. But, more importantly, determination.

"It's going to be fine," she said softly. "You don't have to worry."

He glanced at the ground, then back into her eyes. She hated how often she had to see pain in his. "I hope you're right," he said softly, and leaned in for a short, sweet kiss.

"How precious," teased a slightly sarcastic voice from behind them; Ellie felt herself turn red as she slowly turned to face Fred, pulling away from Harry and wiping her lips guiltily. She hoped it was okay for her to kiss Harry in front of him. Why wouldn't it be? It wasn't that Fred was _jealous_; he just didn't want to be replaced.

Harry didn't seem sure what to say, either, so Ellie changed the subject by glancing at the two broomsticks in Fred's hands: hers and his. "Brooms?" she asked.

He nodded. She was glad to see he didn't look upset with either of them, or even hurt; if he had been hurt at all, he'd recovered quickly. "I figured they'd be good for a quick getaway in the forest, if we need it," he told her. "Didn't know which trunk was Harry's, though." Ellie and Fred shared a trunk in the Quidditch supply closet, but Harry had a separate one. "But we can ride double if we need to."

Ron came down next. "You lot ready?" he asked, looking very green.

"Yeah, but I don't think we'll all fit under the cloak," said Harry. "Three's stretching it, and we're four and two broomsticks."

"Other plans for not getting caught?" Ellie asked hesitantly.

Fred nodded. "Me and you can just fly outside," he said to Ellie. "Maybe use the Map to make sure no one's around, and then find the nearest spiders, and catch up with them."

Harry and Ron nodded, liking the sound of it, so Ellie and Fred headed up the boys' stairs a little to the window. They opened it as quietly as possible and jumped out, landing precariously on the ledge below.

"God, let's get on our brooms before we fall," Ellie muttered, and positioned herself carefully on hers. Fred did the same, and they kicked into the air.

"Don't fly in front of any windows," Fred warned. "If anyone's as bad a sleeper as you, they might see."

She laughed. "Nice. Check the map."

He did, and smiled. "Nobody outside at all. We've got nothing to worry about. Except…" He frowned, looking at Ron's dot, which had another dot nearly on top of it. The print was too small to read.

"I don't know what that says," she said. "Maybe Ron named a shirt or something. Or maybe it's Scabbers. Anyway, they're still going in the right direction, so nothing's wrong."

Fred nodded, and they continued flying downward until they reached the front of the Forbidden Forest. They dismounted and carried their brooms at their sides as they strolled along the outskirts of the forest, looking for any clumps of spiders and waiting for Harry and Ron.

They found a few spiders soon, which luckily were around the place Harry and Ron were to arrive.

"Find some?" asked Ron when he saw them, pulling off the cloak. "I was hoping you wouldn't."

"Sorry, tough luck," Ellie replied. "Might want to put the cloak in my bag, Harry," she added, and Harry nodded and handed her the cloak. She stuffed it and the map into her bag, but kept her broom in case there was need of a quick getaway. They all stared at the forest for a second before heading in.

They spent a long time walking. The forest was much bigger than Ellie remembered from the time only a week or two ago that she had helped Hagrid escape; then they had been at a hugely fast run, and she had been a dog. In fact, when she realized how much easier this was as a dog, she decided to transform. She carried her broom in her mouth as she trotted alongside the other three, who looked amused.

The first thing that scared them happened after what felt like ages: they heard a loud, large sound behind some nearby trees. The three humans froze, but Ellie just gave her broom to Fred and approached the clearing at a canter. She found herself much more fearless as a dog.

If dogs could laugh, she would've: what she saw was the old Ford Anglia, the very flying car Harry and Ron had taken to get here this year. She came back, and they saw it, too, laughing just as much.

But the second thing that scared them wasn't so amusing. There were three huge, horse-sized spiders that came out of nowhere, making scary clicking noises and not hesitating to grab the three boys. Fred dropped the brooms and one of the spiders reached to crush them, but Ellie grabbed its leg in her mouth, resisting the urge to retch, and bit—hard. The spider screeched and scuttled away from her, and none of the others tried to attack her. She supposed they had a bit of a weak spot for dogs—probably not dogs like Fang, who Ron had wanted to bring, but fierce ones.

Ellie took the brooms and followed her captured friends and the spiders to a huge, amazing clearing that could only be described as a domed web. It was covered in sticky but beautiful-looking silk web material, and made a huge, iridescent orb. Hundreds of spiders, different sizes, were watching in awe. The three big ones passed them, ignoring them. Ellie, not quite so confident, walked very close behind her friends.

They were dropped to the ground in front of the biggest yet: a huge, black spider. One she recognized from the vision: Hagrid's. Aragog. Harry, Ron, and Fred looked speechless, so she transformed. He didn't seem to notice, but when the other three made clicks, he did seem surprised.

"Are you—blind?" she asked in surprise.

Aragog seemed angry at that. "I'll be the one asking questions," he said. He made some clicking sounds to the others, which responded accordingly. "My children, your latest feast," he announced.

So much for questions. "Wait!" Ellie shouted. "You're Aragog, aren't you?"

Aragog froze.

This time Harry spoke. "Hagrid sent us," he said carefully. "You've got to listen to us—please! We're friends of his."

"Friends—of Hagrid?" Aragog asked. "Well, this does change things, if what you are saying is true. Why have you come to me? And where is Hagrid?"

"Hagrid was arrested," Ellie said, "but I helped him escape before they could take him away. He's in Hogsmeade now, at least until we find out who really did what he was arrested for."

"And what," Aragog snarled, "would that be?"

"For opening the Chamber of Secrets again," Harry said. "Which is why we're here. To ask you what really happened."

Aragog hesitated. "Hagrid was already freed for that," he said. "Why would they accuse him again?"

"They had no one else to accuse when the Chamber was reopened," Ellie said. Ron was too busy sobbing out of fear, and Fred seemed aghast. "The Ministry isn't perfect, at all. This was an unforgivable mistake on their part." She emphasized that point as best she could; she definitely didn't want the spider thinking she was on the wrong side.

Aragog seemed to be thinking.

"Listen, we don't want any trouble," said Fred, piping up for the first time. "Hagrid sent us to find out the truth about the Chamber—that's all we want to know."

"I will believe you," Aragog decided, "when you bring Hagrid to me."

Ellie bit her lip. "But he's in hiding—I wouldn't know where to—"

"You can either bring him to me now, or my children will dine on you," Aragog shouted—if a spider could shout. "They have not eaten in a very long time."

"Okay," Fred said quickly. "We'll take it." He took one of the brooms and offered Ron a seat; Ellie did the same for Harry. But Aragog didn't seem pleased.

"I know of the lies of men," he snarled. "Two of you will go and two will stay. If the two that leave do not return, we feast on your friends."

Ellie's eyes widened in terror. Harry shook his head. "It's okay," he said to her. "Me and Ron can stay—we'll be fine. You can find Hagrid, no problem."

She felt like she was going to cry. "Harry, I don't know where to start," she said. "I can't just ask around for him, and the Map doesn't show Hogsmeade…"

He gently put his hand on her cheek and whispered into her ear, "You can do it."

She pulled away and nodded silently. Then, praying that it wouldn't be their last, she kissed him. She didn't want to pull away, didn't want to stop, but she felt Fred gently tug at her arm, and she broke apart from Harry and mounted her broom. Harry nodded at her, his expression mirroring her own, and she and Fred kicked off.

Their ride was silent for a while. Ellie wanted to explain herself somehow, to ask him what he was thinking, to ask if he was still okay with everything, but she was too frantic and stressed to find words.

"You seem really happy with him," Fred said after a while.

She nodded silently.

"I'm happy for you, El," he said. "You really don't have to worry about what I did before." He would have laughed if it was at all appropriate. "Trust me. I couldn't go that long without you again if I wanted to."

"Thanks," she said honestly. His words touched her more than she was comfortable with.

"Okay, we're here," he said, and began to descend. She did, too, noticing that although the streets were empty, some of the buildings were still open.

"Split up?" he asked. "You get buildings on the right, me on the left?"

"Okay, but remember, Hogsmeade is close with the teachers. You can't let anyone report you. Make sure they know how serious it is."

He nodded, and they split up. The first Ellie saw was a joke shop, but she passed it, doubting that was where Hagrid would be. The second was a bar she hadn't heard of. She entered carefully, surprised it was open.

There were a few customers at the bar; she approached and asked for the bartender, a young woman who looked shocked.

"What are you doing here, young lady?" she demanded. "Hogwarts students aren't allowed here now, especially at night."

"I know," Ellie said, her voice cracking. "Listen, this is really serious. I'm Ellie—have you heard of me at all? I'm the one who brought Hagrid here when he was to be arrested."

The woman's expression changed.

"Listen, I need him," Ellie said. "It's really serious. Please don't report me—it'll put Hagrid and two other students in some really serious danger."

The woman nodded. "You don't know where he went?"

"I took him as far as the edge of the forest," Ellie replied honestly.

"Okay. Here's what to do. Go to the Hog's Head and ask for Aberforth. Tell him the story you told me. He'd know better than me where Hagrid is."

Ellie nodded. "Thank you so much," she said, and darted out of the building, glad to get answers so quickly.

Fred was waiting outside when she emerged. "Any luck?" she asked.

He shook his head. "No, and one close call, someone recognized me and thought I was playing a prank. But I was able to tell her how serious it was, and she let me out without reporting me or giving me any help."

"I was luckier," Ellie said, and explained what had happened. He nodded, and they both ran to the Hog's Head. The door was locked, but after a few minutes of them both rapping obnoxiously, an old man opened it.

"Are you Aberforth?" they both asked.

The man nodded gruffly.

"We really, really need to know where Hagrid is," Ellie said. "Listen, we're not with the Ministry, I'm the one who helped him escape, if you told him I'm Ellie then he'd tell you—"

"Hagrid," Aberforth shouted. "Ellie's here."

The floor seemed to burst open, until Ellie realized it was a trap door. Hagrid crawled out, looking much too big for it, and his eyes widened when he saw her. "Ellie!"

She nodded, and hugged him when he spread his arms. "How's it been here?"

"Not great," he replied, "but better than Azkaban. Any luck on getting my name off the guilty list?"

"We just followed your advice about the spiders today," Ellie said, "and it's not going well. He insisted on seeing you. Harry and Ron are sort of being held hostage—you've got to come with us. I'll protect you if anyone comes."

Hagrid nodded. "All righ'. Sorry, I thought he'd listen… Must be hungry."

Ellie and Fred exchanged a look.

"We've got to run," said Fred. "Our brooms won't hold Hagrid. No offense, mate," he added quickly.

And so they took off into the forest. But at the rate they were going, they didn't expect to get there too soon. "Check your Map," Ellie suggested. "Make sure nothing's happened."

Fred opened it while running, and stopped short. "They're on the run!" he gasped. "I'll go ahead—you two keep running."

"No, I'll go," Ellie said quickly, and before he could argue, she kicked into the air and sped off in search of Harry and Ron. When she saw them from above, she almost laughed out loud—they were a safe distance ahead of the angry-looking spiders in the Ford. Soon after, the spiders gave up and headed back. Harry and Ron were safe.

She flew back to give Fred and Hagrid the good news. They both looked relieved, but Fred suggested they still take Hagrid to the spiders to get some answers. They continued, and when they reached the spiders, Aragog seemed ashamed.

"I had assumed they were lying," Aragog said, head hanging low. "I am sorry, my friend."

Hagrid looked a bit angry. "Yeh should be!" he said. "Yeh almost ate my friends!"

"Is there anything we can do to make it up to you?" Aragog asked.

Hagrid glanced at Ellie and Fred, letting them use it to their advantage. Ellie spoke. "You can tell us what we wanted to know," she said. "To clear Hagrid's name, we have to find out who the real Heir is. And who their monster is that's hurting these people."

"We do not know," Aragog said, "who this Heir is. We know only of the monster you speak of."

Ellie shrugged. "And?"

"It is a creature we spiders fear more than anything else," he said. "I would dare not utter its name if not for the debt I owe you." He hesitated and said, "The monster we fear, which is responsible for your attacks, is a basilisk."

Hagrid's eyes widened; Fred, too, looked shocked. Ellie didn't even know what a basilisk was, except bad news.

"We've got to get back and tell someone," Fred told Ellie. "El, the least they can do is have all the students wear sunglasses, or something. Okay?"

"Sunglasses?" she repeated.

"Hagrid, think you can get back on your own?" Fred asked Hagrid, who nodded. "Okay, then we'll head back by broom." He and Ellie mounted brooms. As they kicked off, waving goodbye to Hagrid, he said to Ellie, "Anyone who looks directly at a basilisk dies. If you see it through something, you're petrified."

"So every single attack has been seen through something?" she asked doubtfully.

He nodded. "Colin was attacked when he had a camera in front of his face, right?"

She shrugged. "Yeah…"

"Justin was with Nick," Fred said. "Probably saw it through Nick, and Nick was already dead."

She could hardly believe it. "Hermione had a mirror," she said, nodding.

"I'm sure there's ways just like those for the others," Fred said. "It all makes sense. So, who are we telling?"

''Harry and Ron," she said, "definitely. Then Dumbledore…" She frowned. "We can't tell Dumbledore, can we? If he were here, it would be so much easier…"

"So who, then? McGonagall?"

She bit her lip. They were approaching the window, but she hovered outside, deep in thought. "I know this sounds crazy, but I feel like we shouldn't get the teachers involved. The second they hear it's a basilisk, they'll close down the school, and really, how are they going to catch it any better than us?"

"With more advanced magic?" he suggested, sounding more than surprised. "And why shouldn't they close down the school? It's dangerous!"

"You said yourself, just get all the students to wear sunglasses!" she replied loudly. "It wouldn't be so bad."

"Oh, of course not, a school full of petrified students!"

She groaned. "Okay, let's tell Harry and Ron and see what they say. And I'm going to have another word with Ginny if it kills me, okay?"

Fred sighed and nodded, and they climbed back in.

* * *

"Okay, between you finding out it's a basilisk and us finding out about the girl in the toilet, we should be onto something," said Ron. Apparently they, too, had gotten something out of the spiders.

"What does the girl in the toilet have to do with anything?" Ellie demanded.

"Myrtle," Harry breathed. All four of them seemed to gasp together with realization. It made sense.

"So, the big question," Ellie said. "Who do we tell? Fred says we should tell McGonagall, but I don't think good would come of it. I say we have a quick word with Ginny—I'm serious, last time—then grab our sunglasses and head up to Myrtle's bathroom. We see what we can get out of her, and go from there."

"Listen to me!" Fred nearly shouted, sounding angry. "Every minute you don't tell McGonagall is a minute every other student in this school is in danger. Do you really want to risk it?"

"I think she's right," said Harry. "At least for tonight. Here's my idea: Ellie, try and talk to Ginny tonight. We'll all head to bed. There's no way to get to Myrtle's bathroom tonight—we won't get out through the portrait even with the cloak; it's tough enough once a night." They had made a plan for getting through the Fat Lady: while invisible, whisper the password. She almost always opened the door while asleep, not noticing, and the same when they came back. If her eyes did open, she'd assume it was a dream and not worry, since she saw no students. But they wouldn't risk it twice.

"So?" Ellie asked. "When do we go?"

"Some time tomorrow," Harry said, "and if we can't during the day, we'll do it at night. We'll ask Myrtle about everything, and we should be able to find out everything we can possibly find out. When we have everything, we can tell McGonagall. What I'm hoping is she'll figure out where the Chamber is and deal with it without closing the school."

Ellie sighed. "It's better than nothing, I guess."

And so she headed back to her room, trying to ignore the pang in her heart at disagreeing with Fred and siding with Harry. Ginny was asleep, and Ellie couldn't bring herself to wake her. She seemed to be sleeping peacefully, and seeing how Ginny's life seemed to be a nightmare these days, Ellie wanted to give her that peace. She'd ask her in the morning. It would be quite a day.

* * *

The end! Only three more chapters of the second year and on to Prisoner of Azkaban! (Which, yes, pretty much all of you know her dad is Sirius, I didn't even try to hide it. But, you know. Don't tell Ellie cause she doesn't know yet.) The next chapter is The Chamber, Part 1 - so make sure you REVIEW for a quick update! Thanks guys!


	34. The Chamber, Part 1

Hey guys! Sooooo sorry for the ridiculous wait. I know how frustrating that is. I've been getting settled into college and honestly almost forgot about this story until the ever-effective friendly reminder! So anyway, here's this chapter, and I promise not to be so neglectful in the future! Thanks for your patience. Enjoy!

**Chapter 16: The Chamber, Part 1**

Ellie had never felt more nervous in her life than she did the next day.

They weren't nerves for her own safety. She wore sunglasses during class change and stayed with groups. She hadn't talked to Ginny yet, but she would. Nothing of that nature scared her much. It was the fear that something would happen to someone else, and it would be all her fault.

Harry and Ron seemed to feel the same way, she noticed in every class, and between classes she saw that Fred, too, seemed down. He had lost every Fred-like quality about him. She felt guilty for dragging him into this decision that was probably the wrong one.

The four of them ate lunch together at an empty end of the Gryffindor table, none of them saying much. None of them seemed to be able to think of anything to say. Onlookers probably would have suspected something; they were all pale, quiet, and suspicious-looking.

"Okay, that's it," Harry finally said. "We've got ten minutes before Potions, and I don't really care if I miss all of Potions, anyway. Fred, don't you have a free period next, anyway?"

Fred nodded.

"Lockhart's walking us to our next class. We can probably just say we need to get something—he's not the most careful teacher about the whole precaution thing. Think we can pull it off?"

Fred nodded. "I'd say so."

"What did we leave?" asked Ron.

"Our Potions books, on this table," Fred said. "It's easy, we really can just leave them. And this is in the direction of Myrtle's bathroom, if we tell him when we head downstairs."

Harry nodded. "It makes sense. So will we need anything, to convince Myrtle?"

"No, but the Marauder's Map would have been smart," said Fred, "for when we're heading back. So we're not caught. I think it's in my trunk, though."

"I don't have the cloak with me," Harry said, "or I'd send one of us after it."

"Oh, I do," Ellie said, remembering when Harry had handed it to her for her bag. "It's in my bag. Shall I get the map, then?"

"If you're sure you'll be safe," Fred said. "Wear your glasses, and keep your eyes on the ground."

"I don't like it," Harry said. "Maybe I should go."

Ellie laughed. "It'll be fine," she promised. "Don't worry about me, I've got my shield and my whole transforming thing. I'm the best for the job." And before they could protest, lunch was dismissed. She ducked under the table to put on the cloak, and when she stood back up, none of them knew where she was. She grinned and kicked Fred's butt jovially before heading out. Fred chuckled a bit, not bothering to explain it to the others.

It was easy to avoid the hordes of people, because none of them were heading to the common room. She went quickly, glad that the stairs were all in her favor, and reached the common room soon. She wasn't sure how she would get through the Fat Lady, but luckily a small gaggle of teens headed out with a professor just as she headed in. She stuck a pen between the frame and the door so the Fat Lady wouldn't shut all the way. She knew it wasn't the cleverest plan in the world, but she hoped the Fat Lady would assume it was an accident.

Ellie started to head up to the boys' dorms to fetch the Map, but she froze in her tracks when she saw Ginny sitting in front of the fireplace, sobbing. Ellie dropped the cloak and ran over to her friend.

"Ginny," she gasped. "What's wrong?"

Ginny shook her head, still crying, but surrendered into Ellie's tight hug when it was offered.

"Ginny, please," Ellie whispered, not letting go. "I've been trying to talk to you all year. If you know something about the Chamber, you can tell me. I know more than you think. About the basilisk? Myrtle?"

Ginny pulled away from her, looking up in surprise. "How do you know all that?"

"Lots of detective work," Ellie replied. "Now, come on, tell me what's going on."

Ginny sighed and pulled out something Ellie recognized very well: the diary.

"It _was _you!" Ellie breathed. "I had a feeling, but too many signs pointed to no… so you stole it back from Harry after throwing it away?"

"It's evil," Ginny replied, "but at the same time it's like a drug, I couldn't leave it…"

Ellie shook her head. "What did it show you?"

"It didn't show me things," Ginny replied between tears. "It made me do things—the writing on the wall—in my own blood—"

Ellie's eyes changed from worry to panic. "Oh, my God," she managed.

"And helping the basilisk," Ginny whispered, "and setting things up… I'm the reason all of this has happened, Ellie."

"Don't worry," Ellie said quickly. "Look, we'll talk to McGonagall and get rid of the book and work things out."

Ginny's expression flashed to a look of anger. "We can't get rid of the book!" she shrieked, standing up. Ellie stood up as well, knowing this was the 'it's like a drug' part.

"Okay," Ellie said. "Okay." And yet all she could do was pray that it wasn't too late to go to McGonagall.

But Ginny just picked up the diary and opened it. "Look at this," she said. "This is Tom Riddle. He—I don't know who he is—he's controlling me. No one can stop him."

"We can," Ellie insisted, and reached out to close the book. But writing appeared, and Ginny's eyes skittered over the words, transfixed. Ellie tried to stop her from reading, but she couldn't. Ginny's eyes glazed over, and Ellie didn't seem to matter any more. Ginny stood up and headed over to the portrait, yanking it open, and Ellie regretted having left the pen. She pulled the cloak on out of habit, but had a feeling Ginny had her own magic protecting her. Ginny broke into a run. Ellie didn't know where she was headed, but followed, panic rising up in her. What was going on? How could Ellie stop her?

She pulled open her locket. Fred's face appeared instantly. "Where are you?" he asked, sounding not too worried.

"Fred, it's Ginny!" she said, high-pitched and nearly hysterical. "She did it all, the writing, the planning—that book is controlling her! I think she's heading to the Chamber now, Fred— " She glanced up but kept following, not knowing where they were headed.

"Oh, God," Fred managed, looking more scared than she had ever seen him. "Where are you going?"

"Looks like Myrtle's bathroom," she said, somewhat relieved. "That's where you are, right?"

"No—no, it's not!" Fred shouted. "McGonagall caught us and sent us to the hospital wing, that's where we are—we found out that the basilisk is using the pipes. I think that's where it would be, the pipes in Myrtle's bathroom, and the entrance…"

Ellie groaned and kept running, too scared for words. "You've got to find McGonagall," she said.

Fred said something to the other two, but Ellie saw Madam Pomfrey in the background. She was saying something about escorting them in a few minutes. Fred looked furious.

Ellie stopped abruptly; Ginny had stopped. She was cutting her fingers.

"Ginny, snap out of it!" she shouted, looking around frantically for teachers. She glanced down at her locket. "Fred, she's writing on the wall—what do I do, do I get help?"

"No!" Fred shouted. "Stay with Ginny! What's she writing?"

"Their… their skeletons…" Ellie didn't want to keep reading. "Fred, ask Madam Pomfrey, tell her it's an emergency—"

"Harry's working on it," he replied frantically. "Ellie, what does it say?"

"Their skeletons will lie—in the Chamber—" She choked on her own words.

"HARRY!" Fred shouted. "We've got to get McGonagall _now_!"

But Ginny was finished, and she was taking off again, this time toward the bathroom. "Our skeletons will lie in the Chamber forever," Ellie whispered as she ran.

* * *

She had to close the locket to keep up, but promised Fred she would use it again as soon as she got a spare second. Ginny stopped again in the bathroom, and Ellie clutched the cloak to her, knowing it might be her only form of protection against any human that would be in the Chamber. The Heir.

Ellie pulled out the locket again. "It's one of the sinks," she said to Fred. "The basilisk is saying something in Parseltongue—tell Harry to do that when you get here." And she snapped it closed. "MYRTLE!" she shouted. But the ghost didn't emerge; she must be scared out of her mind. "Myrtle, when Harry gets here, tell him to say 'open' to that sink in Parseltongue. _Please_."

Myrtle didn't reply, but Ellie had a feeling she would do it.

The Parseltongue stopped, and the sink rose, making way for a deep pit. Without further warning, Ginny jumped down. More scared than she had ever been in her entire life, and more than she could have ever imagined, Ellie followed.

She knew the basilisk was there. She kept her eyes on the ground and prayed that it couldn't sense her presence. Luckily the cloak was still on her. She pulled out her wand and slowly raised her eyes enough to look for any sign of the Heir, but she saw none.

"Ginny," she whispered, but Ginny was still in the trance. She opened the diary again. Ellie jumped on her, trying to knock it out of her hands, but it was no use. Ginny just stood back up and began to read.

Ellie stood back, knowing there was nothing she could do, and waited.

Ginny pulled out her wand and said a spell Ellie didn't recognize, pointing it at the diary. There was a huge blaze of white light, and almost out of the diary, a man appeared. As he did, Ginny seemed to lose a lot of energy. She tripped and caught her balance, but seemed to be in pain.

"Thank you, Ginny," said the man. "It's been so long."

Ellie studied the man carefully. He was young, probably in his twenties, with dark hair. He was handsome, and oddly familiar in a way. She realized that he was Tom Riddle.

"You're evil," Ginny whispered, clutching her stomach.

Tom smirked. "I try."

"They're coming for you," Ginny murmured. "Not just McGonagall and the professors—they'll bring Dumbledore…"

"Ah, but that will take some time, as Dumbledore isn't even here. Thanks to one of my old followers."

Ginny didn't seem to connect the dots, due to weakness, but Ellie did. One of his old followers… Lucius was the reason Dumbledore wasn't here. That meant Tom—was is possible?—was Voldemort.

"Harry will come, too," Ginny whispered. "Harry's more powerful than you. Even V—Voldemort couldn't kill Harry."

This seemed to make Tom furious. "Because of things out of his control," he nearly shouted, "and don't expect it to happen again!"

"It _did _happen again, last year," Ginny said, falling to her knees. "He beat you again."

So she did know.

"Smart girl," Tom said with a smirk. "Too bad you'll be dead in no time. As you grow weaker, I grow stronger. That's just how it works."

Ellie had to stop him. She had such a huge advantage. Ginny was waiting for her, Ellie knew. She just had to think of a spell… But when she made herself known, the basilisk would see her and petrify her, and once she was petrified, Tom would kill her…

But she couldn't let Ginny die!

Ellie sighed as quietly as possible and took out her wand, thinking back on the Dueling Club. They had learned several spells, and Snape had begun to teach them the art of silent spells. Ellie closed her eyes, focusing, and pointed her wand at Tom under the cloak. _Stupefy, _she thought, and gave her wand a tiny swish. To her huge surprise, he was thrown backwards and landed on the floor. Desperate not to let him get back up, she tried again: _Petrificus totalus. _His already thrown-down body became cold and unmoving. The basilisk didn't seem to know what to do, from what she could see of its lower body.

"Thank you," Ginny whispered.

Ellie sighed. At least Tom didn't have a wand. Maybe she could keep this up until backup arrived.

Still invisible, she pulled open her locket. Fred looked hugely relieved when he saw her, but she gave him a worried expression, and he realized he should use the words feature. She saw him concentrate, and a kind of text appeared on the screen, almost too small to read.

_McGonagall & teachers found the writing. Closing school. We were going to tell her where but they sent Lockhart instead. Heading for Myrtle's bathroom with him now._

Tom was stirring. She pointed her wand. _Stupefy. _It didn't seem to work as well, but he was thrown back down. Honestly it gave her a very empowered feeling. Ginny, who was starting to lie down in pain, gave her general area a weak smile. The basilisk was slithering around the same way a pacing human would.

She tried to send text back. _Riddle is the Heir. Ginny is weakening. Basilisk here. _

Fred looked more than surprised. _You OK?_

_He doesn't have wand. Trying to keep him down. Riddle is Voldemort. HURRY._

Riddle was stirring again. She tried another spell, but apparently as his strength was returning he was able to block them better. This one he blocked almost entirely.

"Ginny, Ginny," he said. "You're not alone. You've brought an invisible friend, haven't you? Who is it, then? Do I have the honor of meeting Mr. Potter?"

Ellie said nothing. She took a few very quiet steps backwards, glancing at the locket and seeing that they were in the bathroom. She prayed that they would get here soon.

"So your brilliant plan is to walk around in circles?" Tom asked, sounding amused. "Whoever you are, that's not a very clever plan. Waiting for backup? Only Parseltongues can get down here, and that means only Mr. Potter. And if you aren't Mr. Potter, I'm still not worried, because Harry isn't exactly going to be your savior."

Ellie tried to ignore him.

Tom stood, deep in thought, trying to consider his options. Finally he said something in Parseltongue. The basilisk seemed to inhale, then almost blew air, as if it were fire, all around the room. Ellie grabbed her cloak, but it was no use; the bottom fluttered around, and she knew Tom had seen her feet.

She sighed and yanked the cloak off, facing him head-on.

"So it isn't Harry," he said. "It's the little girl from last year. Nice sunglasses." He started to say something in Parseltongue, but Ellie thought ahead.

"_They give you your image and the things you believe,_" she started to sing, her voice wavering nervously. "_Open your eyes—tell me, what did you see? And I just think you thought it would be…"_

The basilisk reached out to bite her. She shut her eyes and continued to sing. It struck her orb of a shield and almost bounced backwards.

Tom's expression went from surprised to amused. "A Perelli charm."

"_And how does it feel to be out on your own?" _she sang, ignoring him.

"You weren't the first," he said. "There was one other. I'll find the way to counter that soon, my dear. I won't be the first to do that, either. This won't protect you forever. Even if Daddy wanted it to."

She glared at him but kept singing, pulling out her wand and pointing it at him.

"_And now it's too late to go home-Stupefy—It's hard to be free when you're down on your knees…"_

He was knocked over again. She had a feeling it had something to do with her confidence. The basilisk was still trying to get past her shield, and she had a feeling her shield was getting weaker.

"_Take it easy til you—Petrificus totalus—make it alone."_

And then a crash sounded, and Ellie knew Harry was coming.

* * *

Review for update! I promise, promise, promise it'll just be a few days this time, as long as I get some positive feedback of course :)


	35. The Chamber, Part 2

Thanks to everyone for the reviews! I know this update wasn't exactly a few days, but it wasn't nearly the months I sometimes make you guys wait! Also decided to start doing responses again so I'll put those at the end. Enjoy!

**Chapter 17: The Chamber, Part 2**

"Harry?" Ellie shouted, not realizing that as she shouted her shield disappeared. It was the biggest mistake she'd made of the night. Tom ran over to her, knocking her to the ground, and tried to tear her wand out of her hand. But she held onto it. If she could think straight, she would have done a nonverbal spell, but she couldn't, and his hand was clutched around her throat.

"Say anything and Harry dies," he said instead, and threw the cloak on top of her. She struggled to stand up again, but Tom gave her a warning glare. Even though she knew she had the advantage, she had a feeling he could do what he had threatened to. She stayed silent.

Harry ran in a second later, eyes on Ginny, who was now unconscious.

"Ginny," he breathed, running over to her. He crouched at her side, trying to see what was wrong. He looked up at Tom, not nearly as worried as he should have been. "Tom," he said. "What's going on? Where's the Heir? Where's Ellie?"

Tom smiled calmly at Harry. "I'm afraid I can't answer either of those questions."

Harry shook his head, looking down at Ginny. "She's not petrified." He was trying not to look up at the basilisk, who was obviously waiting for a command. "Why is the basilisk here, but not the Heir?"

Again Tom made no motion to answer him.

"It's not Hagrid," Harry said, dropping his wand so he could attempt CPR on Ginny. Ellie tried to warn him, but again she was sent a glare from Tom, and she felt too powerless to do anything. If she could just do one more nonverbal spell… but Tom was stronger, and if it didn't work, he could kill Harry.

"Perhaps you're right," Tom said. "I was younger then. Didn't know what I was doing."

"Where's Ellie?" Harry repeated. "She came here with Ginny."

Why had Fred told him that, but not that Tom was bad news? She'd have to yell at him when this was all over. But her heart sunk when she remembered Fred had come with Harry. Where was he? And Ron?

"I haven't seen anyone except Ginny," Tom replied calmly. He stooped down and picked up Harry's wand. Ellie's heart sank. Harry looked confused, but not too worried.

"What's wrong with Ginny?" Harry asked.

"A lot is wrong with her," Tom replied. "She had my diary before you did, you know. She wrote to me about all of her woes. All her worries about Hogwarts… and her crushes, or should I say crush—the one on you." He gave a small, amused chuckle. "I wrote back each time, comforting her, gaining her trust."

Harry looked up, now starting to really suspect something. Ellie wanted to hit him for his incompetence.

"As we spoke, I grew stronger," Tom said. "I convinced her to do things. I had a very strong power over her. I convinced her to open the Chamber of Secrets."

Harry stood up in a flash. He still didn't seem convinced of anything, but looked more worried than he had been.

"You know the rest of the story," said Tom. "Up until here."

"Why?" Harry demanded.

Tom changed the subject. "You fought Lord Voldemort last year," he said. "You must be very powerful, to have lived through that."

Ellie realized then that this form of Voldemort didn't have the same memories as the Voldemort they had fought the previous year.

Tom continued to pry about Voldemort; Harry seemed to grow more and more suspicious, and Ellie more agitated and worried. Again and again she debated throwing off the cloak and doing her best to help him. But Tom had a wand now. He could kill Harry in a split second.

"Why do you care so much?" Harry demanded. "About Voldemort?"

Tom sighed. "You're really not as clever as your reputation suggests," he said, and lifted Harry's wand. He wrote in the air, letters sticking like fire, TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE.

Harry shrugged.

Tom gave a swish of his wand, and the letters scrambled around. I AM LORD VOLDEMORT.

And finally Harry understood.

"And now you know," said Tom, smirking. "You know that here you are, without a wand, alone. Against the most powerful wizard in the world."

"Albus Dumbledore," Harry said furiously, "is the greatest wizard in the world."

Tom's expression changed from calmness to furiousness.

They were interrupted by a beautiful caw. A familiar caw. The chirp of a phoenix. Everyone looked up, and Ellie used the distraction to throw off her cloak and reach out her arm for Fawkes. The phoenix landed and looked at her, and she whispered something to it. It flew over to the basilisk's eyes and did as she had whispered: blinded it.

"No!" Tom gasped. Harry was busy staring at Ellie in disbelief. But she, knowing that she had put Harry in danger by making herself known, transformed and tackled Tom to the ground as a dog.

Tom lifted his wand and flicked it at her, and she was thrown backwards. He laughed. "Your dad did leave you with some decent powers," he said. "Don't worry, I won't stay true to my word. I've still got a few things to get out of Mr. Potter before I kill him. And Harry, I suggest you answer them, if you want this friend of yours to live."

Harry glanced sadly at Ellie, who had changed back at her fall. She crawled back up, rubbing her head, and gave him a helpless shrug. Fawkes returned to her shoulder as the basilisk moaned impatiently, waiting for orders to attack. Tom gave none, still questioning Harry; Ellie took the opportunity to see what Fawkes had brought. It was the Sorting Hat.

Tom chuckled when he saw Ellie take the hat. "Dumbledore didn't send you two very good weapons," he said. "Must be losing his touch."

"The phoenix just saved our lives once," Ellie said sharply. "Don't be so sure."

Tom glared at her and turned back to Harry. "How did you survive, those eleven years ago?"

Harry remained silent.

"Speak, boy, or risk this girl's life."

Harry sighed. "My mother," he said. "My mother died protecting me, and that kind of love you know nothing about. It saved me."

Tom looked relieved. "There's nothing special about you, then, boy." He laughed madly. "It was just as I hoped. We're very equally matched, you and I. Similar origins… and of course the parentless childhoods… Even our appearances. And our wands."

Harry didn't want to hear this at all. Ellie knew why. He was still suffering from the Slytherin things he had heard from the Hat.

"And now," Tom said, "we duel. Just because my snake can't see you doesn't mean it can't hear you." He hissed something to the snake, who slithered readily out of its waiting place. But, still blind, it started to sway, trying to catch its balance.

"Harry!" Ellie shouted, and tossed him the Hat. She wasn't sure what it would do, but Dumbledore had sent it to them for a reason. Harry grabbed it and glanced down at it in confusion. Tom laughed. "You honestly think the Hat will help you," he remarked.

"Put it on!" Ellie shouted desperately. The basilisk was slithering over to them.

Harry stuffed the hat onto his head. "Help me!" he shouted, and pulled it off, jumping away as the basilisk slammed its tail where he had just been standing. A second later, a glittering sword appeared. Tom's expression changed.

"I've had enough of you!" he shouted to Ellie, and lifted his wand. But she lifted hers at the same time and shouted "_Protego_!" just as he shouted "_Avada Kedavra!_" The green light shattered at her shield charm, and she used the opportunity to hit him with a _Stupefy. _Again it hardly hurt him, but it damaged him enough to turn back to Harry and the basilisk.

Harry was using the sword, but for a boy who had spent ten years as a Muggle and two more as a wizard, he had no experience with sword fighting. He could hardly carry it, it was so heavy; and he was spending more time running than even trying to stab the basilisk.

Ellie tried to think fast. Fawkes chirped in her ear, and she followed the phoenix's gaze to a large, crumbled slab of rock near Harry. Somehow she knew what it wanted. "Harry," she shouted, "get on the rock!"

Looking at her like she was crazy, Harry followed her orders. Tom turned back to her to try another killing spell, but she began to sing again, protecting both Fawkes and herself. When Harry was safely positioned on the rock, she pointed her wand, shouted "_Wingardium Leviosa,_" and continued singing. She shakily moved the rock, with Harry on it, up toward the head of the basilisk, jerking the stone away from it when it tried to bite Harry.

"Ellie, a little less jerkily, would you?" he shouted.

"Sorry!" she shouted back, panicking. She hoped her wand and situation had enough power to keep the heavy objects moving. She pointed at the basilisk again, and Harry held his sword out at the ready. He looked very panicked.

The basilisk's mouth was wide open, and Ellie didn't know what to do. It seemed the only opportunity to kill it, but at the same time it could close at any second.

"Do it!" Harry shouted. Biting her lip, she sent him closer. Harry drove the sword up the roof of the basilisk's mouth and into his head, pushing as hard as he could, then drew it back. But when his arm came out, Ellie saw something that made her shriek out loud: the basilisk was missing a tooth, one that was stuck very deeply in Harry's sword arm.

He collapsed onto the rock, which she settled safely to the ground. The basilisk swayed again and collapsed, clearly dead. Tom looked angry that he had lost his basilisk, but not worried at all.

"Harry got himself killed without my help," he said calmly to Ellie. "And I can assure you, you won't get out of here alive, either. Keep singing if you like. Once Ginny is dead, I'll have the power to kill you, too."

Ellie didn't know what to do except run over to Harry, still singing. She yanked the basilisk's fang out of his arm and tried to press her shirt against his wound to stop the bleeding, but nothing was working.

Fawkes gently hopped from Ellie's shoulder to Harry's and, to Ellie's disbelief, began to cry. Ellie, too, wanted to cry, but she couldn't; the fear was overpowering her. She was watching two of her best friends—one who she also loved in a very different way—die. She released her shirt, still somehow singing, when Fawkes nudged it, and she saw that he was crying onto the wound.

"Even the bird knows he's dying," Tom chuckled. "How touching."

But the bird wasn't just crying, Ellie realized. It was healing Harry. His wound closed, he regained full consciousness. His eyes went straight to Tom, who looked overwhelmed.

"Its tears—_heal?_" Tom managed, eyes wide.

Harry was focusing only on how to kill Tom. He glanced from the diary at Ginny's side to Tom and back. Tom seemed to realize Harry's train of thought, and he lifted his wand, obviously thinking he could overpower Ellie's shield by now. But she was faster. She stopped singing and lifted her wand. _"Expelliarmus_!" she shouted, and Harry's wand flew out of Tom's hand.

Harry ran over to Ginny's side and grabbed the diary. "Ellie, the fang!" he shouted, and she tossed the basilisk's tooth over to him. He grabbed it and, with a final, murderous look at Tom, stabbed the fang into the diary. A blinding light appeared in the middle of Tom's body, where the stab in the book had been made. Harry, still looking murderous, stabbed at the diary again and again until Tom was almost entirely white light. And then he gave a final moan and disappeared. Harry glanced down at the diary to see that it was bleeding in a way.

They both stood in silence for a few seconds, before Harry took a few steps over to Ellie and kissed her.

If their normal kisses were brought to great heights, this one was a thousand times better. After such a life-threatening event, after all the if's and possibilities, all they cared was that they were both okay. And that they could both still be together. Ellie had no idea something so strong could come from a kiss.

"Get a room," said a voice from the ground.

They broke apart to see Ginny slowly sitting up.

"Ginny!" Ellie exclaimed, remembering how deeply Ginny had liked Harry. "Ginny, I'm so sorry—I was going to talk to you first—"

Ginny laughed. "You've done enough for me this year," she said. "I owe you a few."

Harry grinned at Ellie.

"So everything's okay?" Ginny asked. "Tom's dead?"

"You mean Voldemort," Ellie said.

Ginny went from amused to looking like she was about to cry again.

"Okay, I have a question," said Harry. "Does this mean we killed Voldemort again? Or was it just a past Voldemort that has nothing to do with the Voldemort we killed last year?"

Ellie laughed. "Let's hope all Voldemorts are dead now."

Somehow this was incredibly funny to both Ellie and Harry. Ginny looked appalled.

"Wait," Ellie said. "Where are Ron and Fred… and Lockhart?"

"Right," Harry said. "Er—that was odd. Let's hope Ron hasn't lost his memory—they were having some kind of memory charm fight when the walls caved in and separated us."

Ellie raised her eyebrows and took Ginny's hand, helping her get up. Fawkes stayed perched on Ellie's shoulder, and Ellie gave the phoenix an affectionate stroke, really getting to love the bird. Harry gathered the diary, the sword, and the hat. Ellie handed him his wand and took the basilisk's fang, wondering if it would ever come in handy again. When they came to the buildup of rocks, they decided the best thing to do would be to use _Wingardium Leviosa _to stack them carefully. Ginny's _Reducto _idea was a bit more dangerous.

Ron and Fred were on the other side, looking frantic. They were with Lockhart, who looked very vacant.

"Terribly odd place, isn't it?" he asked them. "Who are you?"

Ellie rolled her eyes. "Better question. How do we get out of here?"

Fawkes chirped something in her ear and fluttered above her a bit, extending a paw. Ellie bit her lip, but Fred explained, "Phoenixes can carry really heavy loads. Don't worry about it, El."

Ellie nodded and, frowning, grabbed onto the bird's tail feathers. Sure enough, they were as strong as iron. Harry grabbed her ankle, and they made a chain of people, all flying up out of the pit and landing in the girls' bathroom, where Myrtle was waiting.

"Oh, no," she said. "I was hoping you'd be dead, Harry. I would've shared the bathroom."

The five students burst into laughter on the ground, partially because of how funny it was and partially because they were so glad to be alive.

"Fawkes," Ellie said to the bird, who landed again on Ellie's shoulder. She was going to miss the bird. "Think you can lead us to McGonagall's office?"

"Don't worry," said Myrtle, "the students weren't going to leave until morning, anyway."

It really was, like everything else right about now, incredible news.

The bird led them down the hallway and to McGonagall's office, each a different expression: Ginny, happy to be free at last; Ron, relieved that all his fears were over; Fred, glad to get back to his twin and the rest of life; Lockhart, dazed; and Ellie and Harry, hand in hand, completely changed by this experience.

* * *

There you have it! One final wrap-up chapter for Chamber of Secrets and we'll be on to Prisoner of Azkaban! Just as a side note, I did a quick re-reading of this chapter and it really wasn't one of my favorites - if you guys feel the same, I'm sorry about that! I see my writing improve over the course of this extremely long story, and hopefully you guys will too! It's also hard to make a chapter like this that has to fit fairly snugly in with the plot of the books, without sounding stuff and unoriginal. At any rate, things stray far from the book in the next few chapters, so you'll have that to look forward to!

Anyway, here are a few quick review responses –

Mykk47- I've already written well past PoA and I can assure you, you won't be disappointed! Thanks for the review and please keep it up!

Goaliebaby- Thank you so much! My favorite thing about writing for the entire series is that I can develop Ellie's relationships with so many different characters. I am going through her 7th year. I already wrote up through her 6th and have taken a long break since then, but once my updating reaches that point, I think I'll pick it up again. I miss this story! Thanks for the review :)

My Little Reminder- What would I do without you? Enough said!


	36. Onward to Summer

**Chapter 18: Onward to Summer**

Ellie had never experienced anything as rewarding as entering McGonagall's office to see the expressions on the waiting people's faces. Dumbledore was there, and as soon as he saw them, a relief she had never seen before flashed behind his blue eyes. Ron and Ginny's parents were there, and the second Molly saw Ginny, she burst into tears of joy. Arthur, too, extended his arms for his daughter with more expression of love than Ellie had ever seen. As he did, Molly reached out for Ellie.

McGonagall was the first to seem to notice what was happening. "What are you three doing here?" she asked Fred, Harry, and Ron. "We were told everyone was in their houses for the night."

"We kind of snuck out," Harry said. "Lockhart asked for our help. He had no idea what he was doing. We wanted to tell you what we knew, but he told us to go straight there."

"You're fired," Dumbledore said cheerfully to Lockhart.

"Am I?" Lockhart asked curiously. "What was my job?"

"He had a bit of a mishap with my wand," Ron explained. "Terrible, isn't it?" He didn't sound like he thought so at all.

"So you three saved our girls?" Molly asked. Ellie was touched that Molly considered Ellie her own.

"I wouldn't put it that way," Fred said, grinning at Ellie. "One of 'em sure didn't need saving."

Everyone turned to Ellie, who blushed a little. "I think Harry and I saved each other an equal amount of times," she decided.

"Everyone," Dumbledore said, "have a seat. The best way to find out what happened is to let Ellie and Harry describe the chain of events."

Everyone sat, and Harry glanced at Ellie to begin.

She cleared her throat, trying to think of when it all started. "Well," she said, and glanced at Harry. "There was this diary."

Harry lifted the diary. Dumbledore looked more interested than anyone else.

"Before I start," Ellie said, "since everything turned out okay and no one died and we pretty much killed Voldemort again, can we get a sort of amnesty for anything we might have done wrong?"

Harry laughed a bit, and Dumbledore nodded. "I think you deserve at least that."

"Well, it all started in Diagon Alley when Lucius Malfoy, who is by the way the most awful guy you will ever meet, gave Ginny this diary." She nodded to Harry, who lifted the dead diary for all to see. "We didn't think anything of it at the time, but around New Years, we—er—came across that girls' bathroom upstairs, the one Moaning Myrtle lives in."

Dumbledore chuckled.

"And we found the diary and took it back, and we figured out it was sort of possessed. The guy, Tom Riddle, showed us this weird vision of why Hagrid was arrested the first time the Chamber opened."

McGonagall looked curious, and Dumbledore looked like he was listening very, very closely.

"But Ginny was sort of—_addicted_—to the diary," Ellie said carefully, "by no fault of her own, and she stole it back. We didn't know it was her. We didn't know what to do. If you recall, Professor," she added to Dumbledore, "I tried to warn you about her."

Dumbledore nodded. "I take full responsibility and apologize profoundly."

Ellie was glad. "Anyway, nothing really happened until the day Hermione was petrified. We went to ask Hagrid about it. It was the same night you came to arrest Hagrid. And, as both of you might know, I attacked Fudge and helped Hagrid escape." She prepared herself for the worst.

Dumbledore laughed. "I did know. I appreciate what you did."

She smiled with relief.

"Harry, you want to go?" she asked.

He nodded and spoke. "Okay," he said. "So Hagrid told us to follow the spiders. That was all he said. We didn't do anything until yesterday, and when we did, we ran into Aragog—the spider that was suspected all those years ago. He told Ellie and Fred that the monster was a basilisk."

Ellie weakly lifted the fang, causing everyone in the room to gasp; no one had realized that Ellie and Harry had fought a basilisk.

"We were going to tell you today, Professor," Harry said to McGonagall. "But we never got the opportunity, with the class changes and everything, and we wanted to ask Myrtle before going to you, because we found out Myrtle was the girl who died."

McGonagall nodded. "When you told me you were on your way to Hermione, you were actually going to her bathroom."

Harry nodded and turned to Ellie.

"While they were doing that, I went back to the common room to get something," she said. "They went to the hospital wing, where they figured out that the basilisk was using pipes, and I found Ginny in the common room. She was crying, and started to tell me what was going on, but she snapped back into the trance and went upstairs—she cut her fingers and—"

Ginny hiccupped, and Mrs. Weasley let out a sob.

"—and wrote what you read," Ellie said. "I had to follow her into the Chamber, I couldn't leave her alone. I used this locket—it's sort of a communication between me and Fred—to tell him how to get in. That was when they looked for you, but Lockhart told them to come with him instead."

Everyone looked transfixed; this was the moment they had been waiting for.

"Ginny said a spell I've never heard before," Ellie said, "and Tom—he came out of the book. As he began to get stronger, she grew weaker. He didn't have a spell, and I was still—er, I was invisible." She didn't elaborate. "So I did that nonverbal thing, Stupefied him and then used _Petrificus Totalus _a few times, but he got stronger and it didn't really affect him, and he had the basilisk—it was there, in the room, I had to keep my eyes down—blew my cloak off and he saw me, but I used my shield to protect myself until Harry got there."

Now Harry spoke. "He revealed that he was Voldemort—a Voldemort who did this diary trick when he was sixteen to preserve a bit of himself for the future. He asked me how I had survived all those years ago, and then he challenged me. But Fawkes came and blinded the basilisk, and the Hat gave me the sword." He held up the beautiful sword for all to see. "Ellie levitated a stone I was on so that I could get to the basilisk's head, and I killed it, but its fang got in my arm."

"Fawkes cried on his wound and saved him," Ellie explained, "and then he used the tooth to stab the book, which in turn killed Tom—Voldemort. Ginny was saved as he died."

"And then we all met up and lived happily ever after," Ron finished.

* * *

They had to answer a lot of McGonagall's questions, but they were honest about everything. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley thanked Ellie and Harry over and over again, until finally Dumbledore asked for everyone except Ellie and Harry to be excused. "You can visit Hermione," he suggested. "She should be restored by now."

Ron needed no further instructions; he ran outside, followed by everyone else. Harry and Ellie followed Dumbledore out of McGonagall's office, down the stairs and into Dumbledore's office.

They sat, and Fawkes, instead of on his perch, flew back to Ellie and settled on her shoulder.

"Fawkes has taken a liking to you," he said with a small smile to Ellie.

"I've taken a liking to Fawkes," she replied, stroking the bird's head affectionately.

"So you sent him to us, then?" Harry asked Dumbledore. "You knew, somehow, that we were in the Chamber?"

Dumbledore shook his head. "On the contrary, I had no idea. Fawkes came when he sensed your loyalty to me and knew that you were in danger."

"Wow," Ellie said. "Smart bird."

"Very," Dumbledore replied. "Now, I can sense that you both have questions for me. Ellie, I'm fairly sure what yours is. Harry, I'm less sure. I have been trying to ask you all year."

Harry nodded grudgingly. "Yes, sir, I know. I'm sorry I haven't asked. I felt like it had to do with favoritism, and I didn't want special attention."

"A very smart thing for you to do," Dumbledore agreed, "but it was not favoritism, but my worries about the safety of a student."

"I know," Harry said. "You're right. It's just, I keep wondering whether I am like Riddle, whether I am what the Sorting Hat thinks—marked for evil, belonging in Slytherin. And I speak Parseltongue, like him."

Dumbledore understood. "I had wondered. The Hat did tell me something of that nature." He glanced at the Hat, which seemed so lifeless not on someone's head. "Harry, when Lord Voldemort attacked you, he transferred some of his powers to you. That is the only reason you have them."

Ellie half-gasped; Harry seemed disgusted. "So I _should _be in Slytherin," he said. "That's what the Hat saw, the bit of Voldemort that's in me, that makes me this way."

Dumbledore shook his head. "The Hat," he said, "put you in Gryffindor, Harry. You know why."

Harry shrugged. "Because I asked not to go in Slytherin."

"Exactly." Dumbledore smiled. "And that is the difference between you and Tom Riddle. It is that choice that makes you who you are, not your ability."

Ellie understood, and apparently so did Harry, as a smile of realization seemed to light up his face.

"And if you need further proof," said Dumbledore, "I think you should take a closer look at your sword."

Harry did as he was told. He turned the sword over, seeing the rubies on the hilt blaze beautifully in the firelight. He read the name engraved in the hilt carefully: _Godric Gryffindor._

"That's incredible," Ellie breathed.

"Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat," Dumbledore told Harry.

Harry was silent, but Harry could tell it was getting to him. He understood.

"And now, Ellie," Dumbledore said, turning to her. "The more you learn of Voldemort, the more you learn of your father. I know the real reason you saved Hagrid—who I'll have to return to Hogwarts soon. It was because you know more than anyone how awful Azkaban is. You fear it. For your father."

Ellie nodded guiltily.

"We contacted your mother today," Dumbledore said, "and learned what she has already told you. I understand you both are to spend the summer at Ellie's, with little or no supervision?"

Ellie shrugged and nodded.

"It is not my place to intervene," Dumbledore said calmly, "and I trust you both. I am sorry for you, Ellie. Know that you are welcome with the Weasleys, if you prefer."

Ellie shook her head. "I think I just want to have a quieter summer this year, Professor," she said.

He nodded. "I understand. As for your father, I wish I knew the answers to your questions. The only thing I know is a name, and I doubt a name makes any difference." He shook his head. "All I can do is suggest that you let this go. There is no escaping from Azkaban, and this can only haunt you."

Ellie nodded. "Yes, Professor." She wished it were that easy.

She wasn't sure if they were finished, but before any of them could decide, they were interrupted as the door burst open and in walked Lucius Malfoy. At his heels was Dobby the house-elf. Harry's eyes widened.

"Good evening, Lucius," Dumbledore greeted.

"Yeah, evening, jackass," Ellie said very loudly. Dumbledore almost smiled, not reprimanding her in the slightest; Harry laughed out loud. Lucius stared at her in surprise for a second, obviously never having been spoken to that way before, before turning to Dumbledore.

"You've come back," he said, sounding very agitated. "The governors suspended you, but you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts."

"Well, you see," he said, "the other governors contacted me today saying that they'd heard Arthur Weasley's daughter had been killed and wanted me back at once. They mentioned being threatened by you, oddly enough."

Lucius went pale, but his eyes were still slits of fury.

"So, have you stopped the attacks yet?" he asked, obviously proud and assuming Dumbledore hadn't. "Have you caught the culprit?"

"We have," said Dumbledore. "I suppose I should say, Mr. Potter and Ellie have."

"_Well_?" Lucius asked, surprised.

"It was your main man," Ellie snapped at him. "Voldemort." She glared at him with much more hatred than he was using for Dumbledore.

"He was using this diary," Dumbledore said, holding up the diary.

Lucius said nothing. Dobby, however, was giving him away with his expression.

"A clever plan," continued Dumbledore, "because if Harry and Ellie hadn't discovered this book… why, Ginny Weasley might have taken all the blame. No one would ever have been able to prove she hadn't acted of her own free will."

Again Lucius stayed silent.

"I'm not going to dance around it like he is," Ellie snapped. She had seen it, and she remembered it. "You're a disgusting, worthless excuse for a man, Lucius, even more than your frat boy of a son." She was amazed Dumbledore wasn't stopping her. "And it's pathetic that you would do that to a little girl. I saw it."

"Prove it," Lucius hissed. It still seemed obvious he had never been insulted this way.

"No one will ever be able to do that," Dumbledore said calmly. "Which is why I must admit you're a bit cleverer than I should have thought. Then again, I would advise not to do something of this nature again… If I told Arthur Weasley who it was that did this to his daughter, he might find some way to prove it—you know fathers and their love."

Ellie and Harry saw Lucius's wand hand twitch, but he didn't make a move for his wand. Instead he ordered Dobby to leave with him. He opened the door and kicked Dobby through it before following.

"Professor," said Harry, glancing at the diary. "Can I give this back to him?"

Dumbledore nodded. "Certainly."

Ellie raised her eyebrows but followed Harry outside, even more confused when she saw him pull off his sock and stuffed the diary into the sock. "Mr. Malfoy," he shouted when he caught up with Lucius, "I've got something for you." He forced the sock into Lucius's hand. Lucius ripped the sock off and threw it aside to Dobby, looking from the ruined book to Harry.

"You'll meet the same sticky end as your parents one of these days, Harry Potter," he said softly. "They were meddlesome fools, too."

Ellie gasped at that and, before she knew what she was doing, drew back a fist. She was just inches away from punching him, but Harry grabbed her arm and stopped her.

Lucius laughed. "Nice try," he sneered. "Come, Dobby." Dobby didn't move. "I said, _come_."

"Master has given Dobby a sock," said the elf. "Master gave it to Dobby. Dobby is free."

Lucius stared at the sock in disbelief, then turned to Harry and lunged at him. "You've lost me my servant, boy!"

But there was a loud bang, and Lucius was thrown backwards. Dobby had intervened to save Harry. As Lucius rose, face livid, he pulled out his wand. But Ellie was faster: in a split second hers was up and she shouted, _"Expelliarmus_!"

His wand was thrown from his hand. Ellie smirked. "You learn a lot when you battle Voldemort twice." She grinned. "And win."

Lucius glared at her.

"I mean, you know, Harry did most of the work. I helped a bit. So did a few other kids. _Kids, _you know, our age? He wasn't exactly hard to beat."

Harry grinned.

Lucius, with one last scathing glance, picked up his glance and hurried out of sight.

"That," Harry said with a grin, "as out of character as this might seem for me to say, was incredibly hot."

She grinned, threw an arm around his neck, and kissed him.

* * *

The feast was incredible. Harry and Ellie went straight there, still covered in soot and dirt, amused to find that most of their classmates were in pajamas. The celebration lasted all night. Ellie took a seat with Harry, Ron, Hermione—who she embraced with a warm, tight hug, Dean, Seamus, the twins, and Ginny. Everyone she loved was with her, and everyone in the Great Hall seemed to be talking about them.

Hermione was probably the happiest. "You did it!" she screamed when she saw them. "You solved it!"

Justin Finch-Fletchley also came, apologizing endlessly for suspecting him. Then Hagrid turned up, hugging Ellie and Harry tightly, and thanking everyone else for the support.

As if that weren't enough, the House Cup points were awarded. Gryffindor didn't need nearly as many as they were given to win: two hundred points each for Ellie and Harry, a hundred each for Ron and Fred, and fifty each for Hermione and Ginny.

Next, McGonagall rose to tell them exams had been canceled as a school treat in all the chaos. After her announcement came one from Dumbledore saying that Lockhart would not return the next year, one which even the professors were relieved to hear.

The feast ended as warmly as ever, and students were free to walk back to their common rooms on their own, something that they hadn't been able to do in ages.

The rest of term was wonderful, but as usual it had a hint of sadness. This year, instead of worrying about missing Harry, she was worried about missing the Weasleys—something she usually had the luxury of not caring about. Still, knowing that they would have each other over the summer helped Harry and Ellie pass the time comfortably in each other's company, always hand in hand, now public to the school. They never fought and always felt warm and perfect together, and Ellie couldn't remember a time when she had been happier. One of her favorite parts, she noticed in the back of her mind, was that she wasn't constantly wondering what things with Fred could be like. She liked Harry too much for that.

Finally, and yet much too soon, it was time for the journey home. Ellie hugged Hagrid good-bye and boarded with Ron, Harry, Hermione, Fred, and George. It was a crowded compartment, but she couldn't bear the thought of not spending every possible second with them. She even got up at one point to share a few minutes of the ride with Ginny.

When she returned, Harry was telling Ron about phones. "I showed your dad how," he explained, and glanced up at Ellie. "She can give you her number."

Ellie gave her number to Ron, then exchanged with Hermione as well. "And you two better call," she added to the twins. "I'm going to have Weasley withdrawal this summer."

"And Potter overdose," Fred added, grinning.

She laughed. "That, too," she said, grinning teasingly at Harry.

The train pulled to a stop, and everyone stepped outside and onto the platform at King's Cross.

"Okay, so phones, owls, everything," Ellie said, and sighed. "We'll be fine, right?"

Fred and George looked like they were taking the separation the hardest. She hugged both of them, lingering sadly on her hug with Fred, but gently pulled away, joining Harry at his side.

"We'll be fine," Fred promised.

And they split up, the Weasleys to the magical world and Hermione, Harry, and Ellie through the gateway to the Muggle world.

And then face-to-face with a limo driver holding up a sign that said ELLIE.

Harry grinned. "I'd say this summer's going to be interesting."

* * *

And that's a wrap for Chamber of Secrets! With no delays (except a few days for me to see who reviews, of course), Prisoner of Azkaban will be up next! Oh, and just one little comment – I do realize that realistically, Harry couldn't spend the summer anywhere but his home, because of his shield charm. But when I started this, the seventh book hadn't even come out yet… so, anyway, try to overlook that!

Please review!


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